Butterfly
by Ely-Baby
Summary: Ron, Ginny and Remus need Harry for fulfilling the prophecy that will defeat Voldemort. The only problem is that Harry Potter has been dead for thirteen years. Can Ron come back into the past and pick him up, without falling again for Hermione? R
1. The Prophecy

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling and blah, blah, blah. You know FA has a very nice disclaimer, I think that I'll copy and paste here one day… Then maybe I'll have to add the disclaimers for that disclaimer as well.

A/N: So, I felt like starting a new story. And here I am, even if I've currently other two WIPs, I can't really wait until I post this chapter, I'm so excited, then, maybe nobody will like this story. Okay, before you start screaming at me that they don't have their wands or that Apparition is always followed by a 'pop', I can tell you that I will explain everything in the future chapters, so don't worry and have faith, will you? Oh, by the way, this is the first time that I try something like a time-travel fic, so I really hope that there won't be too many strange things. One last thing… I don't like Ginny a lot, and especially I don't like her with Remus, but I wanted to try something different, I really hope that you'll enjoy this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for the great work you did, I love the way you beta-read.

**The Prophecy**

The future: nobody in the whole magic community would have ever expected it to be so dark. The Last Battle between the Dark and the Light had taken place twelve years before, and the Boy Who Lived had found his death in the worst way possible; that time nothing saved him from the Avada Kedavra curse.

Most of the wizards and witches that until that very moment hadn't joined Voldemort's ranks of Death Eaters had three possibilities for escaping a slow and painful death. The first one was easy, and chosen by lots of Purebloods and Half-Bloods: they offered their services to the Dark Lord. He accepted their requests, and showed an unusual pity for them.

The second chance was harder to realize, but nonetheless some people tried it as well; it was common knowledge that outside of the United Kingdom the reign of terror of the Dark Lord had not yet reached other countries, so lots of people tried to escape. Unluckily, only few of them actually arrived in a place where they could start a new life.

The last thing that they could do was create a resistance. And this was up to the bravest wizards and witches, who were still faithful in their belief in a victory. These were all former Aurors, or ones that had been very close to Harry Potter. They had to live underground, after they discovered that the dungeons of the Ministry of Magic spread under all England and consisted of some grottos linked to each other by some small, long, and devious galleries.

And it was in one of these grottos that lived three people, all three of them struggling constantly for their lives in one way or another…

---

Ginny woke up in the middle of the night. Her breath was quick, her forehead was covered with sweat, and her heart beat frantically against her chest. She looked around in the dark hall that they used as bedroom and found it empty. She shook her head slightly, trying to clarifying her thoughts and remembering why they weren't at 'home'.

Right. They were out. They had something to do near Hogwarts, something that concerned saving a woman. They hadn't brought her that time, in her condition she would have slowed them.

She felt a pain in her stomach. She pulled away the sheets and touched her wide belly.

"Hey, are you not going to let me sleep?" she asked her child, sitting up.

Ginny snapped her fingers, said, "Lumos," and walked until a small door that lead to the only other room in that place, something that they used as kitchen and office at the same time. There was also a bathroom, but it was so small that a person could have barely stood there, and with her eight months of pregnancy, it was getting every day more difficult for Ginny to enter it.

She sat down on a chair near the table and listened. The night was so silent that she was starting to hear her own heartbeat, and there were no noises of a battle on the surface, which was extremely strange. The Death Eaters controlled that place so near to the Ministry, because they were aware that the most important members of the resistance lived there. That silence meant only one thing: the Death Eaters were somewhere else that night, and it was not a good sign because also _they_ were somewhere else.

She held her breath and closed her eyes. 'They would never do something so dangerous, not in a moment like that, when I need them so badly,' she thought, and in some way she felt reassured.

She opened her eyes and froze. In front of her stood a couple of hooded figures. She couldn't see their faces, but she heard their breath. It was quick and difficult.

One of the men brought his hands to the hood and made it slide down his head, letting it fall on his shoulders.

"Ron!" screamed Ginny, trying to get to her feet despite the wide belly, "you scared me to death."

Ron tried to smile, but all he could do to make her understand that he had heard her was nod.

"How did it go?" she asked, eyes wide with apprehension.

Ron didn't answer. He sat down on a chair across from Ginny and stared at his hands blankly. Ginny followed his gaze and found his hands covered with blood. She felt the urge to be sick, but, clapping a hand on her mouth, she shut her eyes.

"The Death Eaters knew about her. They were there," answered the other man.

Ginny looked at him horrified. "Remus, you aren't telling me that she's…" her voice trailed off, for it was useless to even finish that sentence. She already knew what happened.

She saw the hood wave up and down, in a silent nod.

"Remus, what happened? I want to know everything – why aren't you taking off your hood?" she asked suddenly.

She heard him sigh deeply. Remus slowly took his hands to the edges of the hood and made it slide down his head.

Ginny looked at him, horrified. "What happened?" she shrieked as she followed the deep cuts that trailed down Remus' face.

"Neville," muttered Ron darkly.

Ginny turned her attention towards her brother. "What--Neville?"

"Dead," answered Ron.

Ginny's eyes filled with tears. "What?" she whispered. "How?"

Both Ron and Remus didn't answer. Ginny's desperate face turned into and angry one. "What happened?" she repeated. "I have the right to know."

Remus walked towards her and kissed her softly on the forehead. Ginny looked at him expectantly, but when Remus opened his mouth to speak, the only thing that came out was, "How is my child doing?"

Ginny was beset by a myriad of emotions. Anger. Pity. Angst. Love. She smiled involuntarily. "He's fine. He kicked."

Remus smiled back, but Ginny's faded away. "Remus, what happened?" She felt her voice shaking.

Remus sighed and sat down next to her. "They knew about her. Somebody must have informed them."

"Do you mean that there's a spy within the resistance?" asked Ginny, feeling sick at the thought.

"I don't know," answered Remus. "But it could be." He grimaced in pain and brought a hand near his heart.

"Remus, are you alright?" asked Ginny alarmed. He looked at her and for a moment met her eyes.

"I'm fine," he said stiffly.

"No, you are not," she replied. "I want to know what happened."

Ron took a deep breath. "Ginny, why do you want to know? You've been lucky not to have witness what we have," he said bitterly.

"Because I want to know," she answered stubbornly.

"Fine," snapped Ron. "Read my mind."

Ginny shook her head. "I want to hear it from you," she said.

He looked into her eyes with an unreadable expression and took another deep breath. "Yesterday afternoon, Neville had been told that there was a woman near Hogwarts, she needed help, she was running away from the Death Eaters. But we didn't know anything else."

Ginny nodded. "Sybill Trelawney. You told me that."

"Yes. In fact, she was hiding in the Forbidden Forest right behind Hogwarts; it took us a lot to find her, but eventually we managed to discover where she was." Ron sighed. "You wouldn't have recognized her, Ginny. She was thinner than usually, and her hair was more similar to a bush than normal hair. Her clothes were all torn off and her glasses were half broken. When she saw us, she seized our arms so tightly that we still have the bruises that she left us."

Ron rolled up his sleeve and showed his bruised arm to Ginny.

"Do you want me to heal it?" she asked, looking at him with her eyes wide.

He shrugged. "It's not like it hurts," he said, putting down the sleeve again. "Anyway, we tried to take her away, but she was – well she was out of her mind."

"More than when she taught at Hogwarts?" asked Ginny, while a soft smile appeared on her face.

Remus looked at her in disapproval, but he didn't say anything.

"Believe me, more," said Ron so seriously that Ginny's face was back to normal in no time. "She kept on screaming, and Neville had to place a Silencing Charm on her while Remus and I kept her still. We carried her for a long time, and, since she'd calmed down during the travel, Neville removed the Silencing Charm. At that very point she told us that there were Death Eaters on her track and that they knew where she was, even if she had communicated it only to the resistance."

"But, why should the Death Eaters rage against her? I mean she's not evil, and that's a thing they despise, but she's not very dangerous for them either. They could have taken her at the first village where she stopped," stated Ginny.

"She had something with her. Something that the Death Eaters, and above all You-Know-Who, wanted more than anything," answered Ron darkly.

"What?" asked Ginny in a bare whisper.

Ron opened his cloak, and from an internal pocket he took out something that looked like a crystal ball. He placed it on the table in front of Ginny, who looked at it with her mouth open. "It's more than ten years that I've not seen one of those," she said.

"I know, since the day that they entered into the Ministry and crashed down all the others," stated Remus.

"What does it say?"

Ron shook his head. "We don't know. We have not yet listened to it; as you can see it's still intact," he answered matter-of-factly.

"Well, Professor Trelawney didn't tell you anything about it?" asked Ginny annoyed, because she had already noticed that the prophecy was still intact.

"No, the only listener to this prophecy is died two days ago," said Ron.

"Who was he? Somebody we knew?" asked Ginny concerned.

"Actually, yes. Colin Creevey."

"Colin?" shrieked Ginny. "H-how?"

"We don't know, and Professor Trelawney didn't know as well. Anyway, he apparently took the prophecy from the Ministry of Magic and left all alone – because we can't really consider Professor Trelawney as a help – and they were going up to the north," said Ron.

"North? Why?" asked Ginny. "Shouldn't he have brought it to us or someone else in the resistance?"

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know why they were going north. But they were caught before they could reach their destination, if they even had one."

"How did they catch you?" asked Ginny.

"We walked as long as possible into the Forbidden Forest, but the Death Eaters were waiting for us out there. Neville gave up his life to protect Professor Trelawney, but his sacrifice was in vain because while she screamed and ran away, the Killing Curse hit her in her back. Luckily it was me that had the prophecy at that moment," said Ron, nodding towards the ball.

Ginny stared at it for a long moment, before raising her eyes and placing them again on Ron's tired face. "Should we break it?" she asked anxiously.

"I don't know," answered Ron. "Remus?" He looked at him as he would have done when they were at school and Remus was his teacher, more than sixteen years before.

"I think that we should surely break it. At least we'll know what is in there, and it will never fall into the Death Eaters' dirty hands," stated Remus slowly.

Both Ginny and Ron nodded in agreement. Ron stood up and took the prophecy into his hands; he raised it high above his head and prepared to crash it on the floor when Remus said, "No, Ron. It's better if we wait until tomorrow morning, now we are too tired and weak and we'll also need something for taking notes about what it says."

"I'm not tired or weak," claimed Ginny. "And I can take note of what it says," she collected a quill and piece of parchment, waving her hand in their direction.

"No," said Remus calmly. "Tomorrow morning. Now we all need to rest," he said, looking into Ginny's eyes.

She lowered her eyes and nodded. "Okay," she said, stretching out an arm towards Remus, who stood up and helped her get on her feet.

"Ron, aren't you going to bed?" asked Ginny, looking at her brother.

Ron looked at her and smiled softly. "I need some time for myself," he whispered.

Ginny nodded. "Okay, but don't be late, you look tired and-"

"I understand, Ginny," he snapped, cutting her off. "And you are not Mum," he growled.

Ginny bit her bottom lip, and Ron saw her eyes filling with tears before she turned away. "Fine," she said in a shaky voice. "Stay here all the time that you want. But crying on Hermione's pictures won't be of any help for you--it'd be better to get a good night's sleep."

Ron opened his mouth to reply something very nasty, but she was already gone when he started to shout against her.

Remus looked at him in a very paternal way, something that annoyed Ron terribly, because, even if he and Ginny weren't married, he should have been his brother-in-law and not a paternal figure to him. "Ron, she's nervous, you know-"

"Yes, I know," answered Ron rudely. "The pregnancy in a time like this has stressed her terribly. Well, there is some news, she's not the only stressed here."

"I know, but she's right, you should try to sleep a little bit, instead of watching old pictures of Hermione," said Remus matter-of-factly.

Ron didn't answer, but he moved towards a small cupboard and picked up a box. From the way he placed it on the table it could have contained something very fragile, but when he opened it there was only a pile of old moving pictures, all with the same small girl on them. She had bushy brown hair and chocolaty eyes, and she was smiling. He started to look at them intently, stubbornly avoiding Remus' eyes.

Remus sighed deeply. "Good night, Ron," he said before disappearing into the bedroom and joining Ginny.

Ron raised his eyes to the closed door before turning back to the pictures.

---

The next morning, when Ginny woke up, she did her best to sneak out of the bed without waking Remus up. She climbed down the bed with great difficulty, but finally managed to place her feet on the bare rock of which consisted the floor and walked out of the room.

When she entered the other room, her eyes flashed with anger. She walked toward the table and sat down across from Ron, who had his head on it. Hermione's pictures lay under his head and arms.

"Ron," she said rudely, shaking his arm. "Ron! Wake up!"

Ron grunted and raised his head slowly. He looked at his sister, trying to focus on her and on what she was saying.

"Luckily you just had to 'take some time for yourself'. Not to pass your whole night on the table," she said bitterly.

He rubbed his eyes. "What?" he asked sleepily.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You should have gone to bed. You were tired and you still are."

Ron nodded. "I'll be to bed right now," he said, standing up.

"No," said Ginny hastily. "As soon as Remus is up we'll be listening to the prophecy, then you'll be able to go to bed and sleep properly."

Ron glared at her, but didn't say anything. He collapsed again on the chair and started to pick up the pictures of Hermione and place them back into the box.

Ginny took up one of them and looked intently at it. Hermione was smiling and waving. She stood right next to the Burrow, and by the length of her hair – right up her shoulders – it must have been the summer of Bill and Fleur's wedding.

Ron gaped at Ginny, who was staring at the picture. "Were you starting to forget what she looked like?" he asked.

Ginny raised her eyes and looked at Ron. "A little bit," she admitted. "I like her hair in this picture," she added, handing it to Ron.

He smiled. "Yeah, well, I preferred her with waist-length hair."

"You're saying that only because it was me who cut her hair that summer," stated Ginny.

Ron shrugged. "I can't believe she let you do something like that. I've always thought that she had more sense," he said, smiling.

Ginny smirked. "I can be very persuasive if I want."

"I've no doubts."

Ginny looked at him and raised her eyebrows. "Well, maybe I'm overestimating myself. I didn't persuade you into going to bed last night."

Ron darkened. He took the remaining pictures and shoved them into the box. He stood up and placed it back into the cupboard. "Well, maybe you should stop worrying about me. I'm thirty years old, you know."

Ginny turned slightly green and then suddenly a bright red, but when she spoke her voice was calm and almost flat. "You're right," she said. "I should stop worrying about you. But you see, the fact is that I need you and I need Remus, so let's say that it's more a selfish act worrying about you." She stopped a moment before adding, "Breakfast?" And without waiting for his answer she stood up and set a small fire under a teapot, brewing the water for the tea.

When she felt a pair of arms turning her around, she thought that Ron must have Apparated because she didn't hear him walking towards her. He hugged her gently and placed his lips on her hair, kissing them softly.

"Sorry," he said slowly. "I didn't mean to be so nasty."

She buried her head in his chest. "It's all right. You must be nervous and tired." She felt him nodding. "And I know that I'm stressing a little bit about the whole Hermione thing and-"

"Definitely stressing," he pointed out.

She sighed and pushed him away, turning to watch the water that was going to boil. "It's just that she'd dead, Ron. It's almost thirteen years that she's dead, you should simply get over her."

Ron felt his anger rising again. How could he change his feelings so suddenly? Only Ginny had been able to do that in the last eight months -- was he pregnant too?

"I'm over her," he hissed.

"How many girls have you been with since she died?" asked Ginny, extinguishing the fire and pouring the tea into a couple of cups.

"There aren't many girls left," said Ron between gritted teeth.

"There are enough. But you don't even look at them," replied Ginny.

"If I don't go to bed with my professor it's not my fault," he snapped nastily, but he regretted it immediately.

He didn't even see Ginny's hand as she hit him on his cheek. Her face was upset and her eyes wide open.

He felt the spot where she had hit him becoming warmer. "Sorry," he muttered. "I shouldn't have said that."

"No, you shouldn't," she said.

Ron opened his mouth to answer, but at that very moment the door opened and Remus came up. All the cuts and wounds which covered his face the previous night were gone and Ron regretted not having let Ginny heal his own wounds as well.

"Good morning," he said to both of them.

"Good morning," answered Ginny.

"Hey," said Ron. "Did you sleep well?"

Remus nodded. "Yes. What about you, Ron?"

"He slept on the table," answered Ginny before he could answer.

"Thanks," he hissed.

"You're welcome," she answered airily. "Breakfast, Remus?" she asked, giving him the cup of tea that she had prepared for herself.

"Thank you," he answered, sitting down across from Ron.

Ginny smiled and started to prepare another tea. They sipped from their mugs in silence, without managing to find a subject which was not too depressing.

When their cups were empty, Remus cleared his throat. "So, should we get started?" he asked.

Ron and Ginny nodded.

"I'll collect the parchment and quill and take note of it," said Ron, waving his hand lazily. A quill and a piece of parchment flew towards him.

"I want to do something as well," protested Ginny.

"You'll have to listen," said Remus seriously.

Ginny snorted, but didn't reply, too impatient to listen to the prophecy to drag the argument on.

Ron took the orb from the table and raised it above his head, just the way he had done before. He glanced to Remus for his approval, and as he nodded Ron let the ball fall to the floor.

It crashed and some pieces of the ball made their way under the table.

The ghostly figure of a woman crept out of the pieces of glass. She was reminiscent of Professor Trelawney in some way, but this one was a lot more inconsistent than her.

Ron sat down hastily and took the quill into his hand just in time for the ghost to start speaking in a deep voice, which sent shivers down Ginny's spine.

"_On the last day of the seventh month of the year,_

_A child, born that very day, will be brought here._

_His power will be love,_

_His strength will be those who love him._

_He'll be the only hope to you,_

_If you want to get rid of the Dark Lord._

_He'll have to go look for him,_

_And when he'll be in front of his body,_

_Just the love that comes from him will defeat the snake."_

The figure evaporated silently. Ron raised his eyes from the parchment, on which he had taken hasty notes of all the things that exited from the mouth of the apparition, and looked at Ginny and Remus.

Remus seemed to be concentrating on something, while Ginny stood there with her hands on her mouth. Ron re-read the prophecy, because he wasn't listening while he took notes, and gaped too.

Ginny's voice seemed miles away when she spoke, "She wasn't talking about _Harry_, was she?"


	2. Reasoning

Disclaimer: The Potter-verse belongs to Mrs. Rowling.

A/N: Oh my gosh! How stupid am I? I mean, I'm sure that lots of you, or at least the ones that have read the first chapter, will be thinking right now that the title 'Butterfly' doesn't fit at all with this story. And I didn't explain anything. Well, first of all, I didn't name this story after that beautiful little multicoloured Lepidoptera, but after the 'Butterfly Effect', if you have seen the movie you know what I'm talking about, although _Wikipedia_ says: '_Small variations of the __initial condition__ of a __dynamical system__ may produce large variations in the long term behavior of the system'._ Well, I've developed my own theory, and you'll find it in this chapter. Anyway, I really hope that you'll like this. I promise that after the first three chapters, things will be less boring.

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for your help, and for all the nice things that you said.

**Reasoning**

Ron and Remus stared at Ginny for what seemed ages. No one of them was able to say anything. The words of the prophecy still echoed in their minds. Then all of a sudden Ron burst into laughter. Remus involuntary frowned as he looked at him, and Ginny's jaw dropped.

"Ron?" Ginny called slowly.

Ron looked at her, still laughing. "That woman was completely out of her mind."

"Ron, it's a prophecy, people don't know what they are saying when they declare them," explained Ginny.

"Still hilarious, isn't it?" asked Ron.

"What?" asked Remus, looking at him without understanding.

"'On the last day of the seventh month of the year, a child, born that very day', come on that's Harry for sure. And guess what Professor Trelawney?" he asked towards the crystal pieces that laid on the floor. "He's dead. Since when do dead people defeat the living ones? I've never seen the Bloody Baron being able to hurt anything at all." He kept on laughing in a very maniacal way.

Ginny sighed and got up. "He's right," she muttered darkly.

"Wait a moment, both of you," said Remus in a very firm tone of voice. "Who said that this prophecy is about Harry Potter? Not all the predictions are about him." He picked up the parchment and read it aloud.

"'On the last day of the seventh month of the year, a child, born that very day, will be brought here.' That means that he's not here yet, and that we'll have to bring him in this place," stated Remus.

"Yes, but where is this _here_?" asked Ginny, sitting back on the chair next to him.

"Since the prophecy is about defeating You-Know-Who," said Ron, who had stopped laughing, "'Here' could mean the place where he is."

"'He'll have to go look for him,' I doubt that it's the place where Voldemort stays, because he'll have to find it."

"All by himself? And he's only a child," said Ginny horrified.

"'His power will be love, his strength will be those who love him. He'll be the only hope to you, if you want to get rid of the Dark Lord.' This reminds me terribly of Harry, though," said Ron.

"Love is a powerful thing, Ron, it's not only Harry who held it in his heart, but every human being," said Ginny sternly.

"Then why has no other human being ever succeeded in killing him?" asked Ron bitterly.

"Because there were no prophecies about any other human being. Until this very moment," said Remus, looking up from the parchment.

"Oh, yes, that's great," said Ron sarcastically. "The only problem is that we don't know who this child is. How many children could have been born on the 31st of July in the last years?"

"Not a lot," answered Ginny hastily. "How many children have you known that were born since the end of the war?"

Ron looked at her blankly. "Yours is the first," he answered mechanically.

Ginny nodded. "And he's not yet born."

Ron snorted. "Then the prophecy must be wrong. It won't carry out its fate."

"All the prophecies have the possibilities to be completed, it's up to people to ignore or fulfil them," stated Remus.

Ron looked at the parchment intently, as if he would have understood the words better if only he looked at them more attentively. Then something hit him. "Of course," he exclaimed, patting his forehead. "North!"

Ginny and Remus gaped at him. "Will you elaborate?" asked Ginny.

"Colin was dragging Professor Trelawney towards north," he explained. "Surely there must be something up there – or maybe someone." But, with Ron's great displeasure, both Ginny and Remus didn't look half as excited as him.

"Ron, I don't think that they were going up north because they found a child that was born the 31st of July," said Remus calmly. "I think that Colin was trying to take Professor Trelawney as far as he could from the Death Eaters and You-Know-Who."

Ron looked disappointed; his own elaboration of things was nicer, and naturally gave him more hope than Remus'.

"Anyway, what's the date today?" asked Ron darkly.

Remus and Ginny shook their heads. "We don't know. How could we?" asked Ginny back.

"I know that it's summer," said Remus, "Because yesterday night it was pretty warm up there."

"Maybe we are already near to the 31st of July and we don't know," said Ginny frantically.

"We have to find a way for understanding what day is," said Ron seriously. "Isn't there a charm or something?"

Remus smiled. "And who would bother to invent a spell for knowing the date? You would have to be totally desperate."

"Well, we are desperate. We could invent it now," said Ron hastily.

Remus seemed to think at that, but then he shook his head. "We don't even know from where to start. We'll need a calendar."

"And we don't have one, right?" asked Ron bitterly.

"No."

"Maybe at the Ministry of Magic there's something," said Ginny temptingly.

"Yes! Perfect, Ginny! The Ministry of Magic! I'll look for something," said Ron, and without a sound he Disapparated.

"Wait Ron!" cried Ginny, but he had already gone. "If he gets caught for such a stupid thing as a calendar and they don't kill him, I'll do it," she said forcefully.

Remus smiled, and at that very moment Ron reappeared in front of them. "I found a calendar," he said happily. "It was in the Minister's office. Look. Luckily the charm placed on it has not worn off."

He placed a parchment on the table in front of them and they saw a big number that shone in black ink, and under it there was another number smaller than the first one. There was also the day of the week.

"Oh my!" cried Ginny. "It's July and it's already the fifteenth," she said, reading the numbers.

"Time flies," stated Ron. "If only we could make the time go back and-"

"What?" asked Remus suddenly.

Ron sighed. "I know we can't go back in the past and change it. But if for once we could have gone back and changed the fate of the war, everything would have been easier for us," he said sadly.

Remus looked at him with his mouth open. "Ron, you – you are right!" he exclaimed agitatedly, something that didn't happen very often.

"What?" asked Ginny, who hardly believed that Ron had a good idea for once.

"We have to bring him here, not through the space, but through the time," said Remus hastily.

"What do you mean?"

"We have to go back in the past and collect Harry Potter," stated Remus.

A silence so dense that was almost palpable filled the room. Ginny and Ron had their eyes on Remus, trying to understand if he was joking or if he really meant what he said.

"What?" asked Ginny in a bare whisper.

"We'll pick Harry from the past," repeated Remus slower.

"How?" asked Ron. "There aren't any more Time Turners, the lot got crashed during the war."

"I know," said Remus calmly. "But I wasn't thinking about Time Turners at all, Ron."

"No? It's the only way I know to come back in the past," he said thoughtfully.

Remus shook his head. "Time Turners make you go back only a day at the most, and then you have to re-live all that day again. What we need is something that will bring us to the past and then back here just like Apparition bring you from a place to another."

"And a charm like that exists at all?" asked Ginny. "I've never heard about it."

Remus smiled. "It does exist," he said slowly. "And that's exactly what we need."

"And do you know how to perform it, Remus?" asked Ron excited.

"No," he answered simply.

Ron looked disappointed. "Then why are you giving me false hopes?"

"I'm not giving you false hopes. I'm pretty sure that we'll find it in a book in the restricted section of the Ministry's library," said Remus, smiling.

"There's a library at the Ministry?" asked Ginny suddenly.

"Of course there is," said Remus matter-of-factly.

"And you never told me about that! Can you imagine how bored I got when I had to stay here waiting for you to come back in the last eight months?" she asked abruptly.

Ron rolled his eyes. "Ginny, it's not the time, now," he snapped. "How does this spell work, Remus?" asked Ron, who was longing for more information.

"I just know that you are transported into the past with your own body, and then you have a maximum of seven days for completing whatever you are doing and coming back," said Remus.

"Does this spell have a name?"

"Should be something like 'Tempus Retraho' or maybe 'Tempus Reveho', I can't remember very well. It's not something that they make you study at school, it's way too dangerous to go back in the past and pay attention not to change anything," said Remus.

Ron looked at him unsure. "Sorry Remus, but I think there's something that it doesn't make sense in what you are saying."

Remus raised his eyebrows and stared at Ron, who cleared his throat in response. "Well, when in our third year Harry and Hermione had gone back in time, they changed everything. They managed to save Sirius and Buckbeak at once and changed the events, and now you are telling me that we can't modify things in the past."

Remus took a deep breath. "Well, Ron, it's all a matter of time. In the real meaning of the word. Harry and Hermione went back in time – what was it? – three hours?" Ron nodded in agreement. "And above all the day hadn't changed."

"What do you mean?"

"Every time that it's up to talk about time spells and time turners, the inventors of those charms always consider the change of day as a line between what you can and can't do. When a day has passed you can't change the past anymore, because the effect will be devastating." Remus stared at Ron for a while before asking, "Have you understood?" in a hopefully way.

Ron shrugged his shoulders. "Well, kind of."

"Let's just say that there's something about midnight. It has always been considered as a very magic moment, I mean it signals the passage between two days. And Muggles call it the 'Witching Hour'," he said with a smile.

Ginny started to laugh. "Really?" she asked. "Muggles are really silly sometimes."

Ron smiled too, then he looked at Remus. "There's still something that I don't quite catch. You said that you can't change something in the past, and you are talking about taking Harry here. Isn't this a contradiction?"

"No," said Remus determined. "Because we won't change anything. We'll just bring Harry here, and then we'll bring him back in the same moment that we took him."

"Yes, but what about him? He'll know what will happen to him, he'll try to save his and Hermione's life," said Ginny, her eyes wandered around the room for a while. "And that would be great," she added slowly.

"Yes, that would be great, but not possible. We'll use a Memory Charm on him, naturally," said Remus seriously.

Ron bit his bottom lip. "Would it be so bad if Harry saved his and Hermione's life?" he asked slowly.

"Yes, Ron. He wouldn't merely change our present, he would destroy it," stated Remus.

They sat there for a while, without speaking, just staring in front of them.

Ron was thinking about Hermione; thirteen years without her and he could not yet get her out of his mind. Why was saving her and Harry's life such a bad thing?

When Ginny's voice broke the silence, Ron looked at her without understanding.

"What?" asked Ron slowly.

"I asked you to pick up those pieces of glass from the floor," she repeated annoyed.

"Why?" he asked.

"Because I need to use the bathroom and I'm on my bare feet, so it would be nice if you would pick them up," she answered.

Ron shrugged and waved his hand lazily. The pieces of glass disappeared from the floor.

"Thanks," said Ginny dully as she walked towards the bathroom.

Ron nodded distractedly.

"Ron, are you okay?" asked Remus, looking at him.

"Yes, I guess so. I was thinking," he said vaguely.

"About what?"

Ron shrugged. He opened his mouth to speak, but at that very moment Ginny came back into the room and he swallowed the words that he was going to say.

"Ron?" Remus called him. "You were going to say something," he reminded him.

Ron bit his bottom lip. "Yeah, well, I was thinking that since Harry won't remember anything when we'll bring him back, because of the Memory Charm, we could also bring here – well you know – just because it won't change anything – we could bring here-" his voice trailed off as he saw that Ginny was looking at him with her eyes wide open.

"Hermione," he whispered.

Ginny and Remus exchanged looks, then turned to stare at Ron, who had lowered his eyes to his hands.

"We won't need Hermione," said Remus, pretending to ignore his real reasons.

Ron begun to blush. "I know, but it would be nice if she could be here as well, I – we could talk to her again," he whispered.

Ginny swallowed. "Ron, she's dead. Nothing will bring her back to you."

"I know that, Ginny," said Ron hastily. "Can't I even pretend?"

"No." Ron raised his eyes and looked at Remus, who had a firm expression. "Sorry, Ron. But it's too dangerous."

Ron rolled his eyes. "Okay," he said simply.

Remus nodded and got up. "Wait here, both of you," he said, looking meaningfully to Ron. "I'll go and look for the book up in the Ministry."

Ginny seized his arm with her hand. "Remus it's still day," she said fearfully. "Wait until tonight."

"We have no time, Ginny," he answered, bending down and kissing her quickly. "The faster we understand what to do, the better it will be for everybody."

He smiled and Disapparated without a noise.

Ginny and Ron stared at the spot where he was and started to count the minutes that passed until his return.


	3. Time Travelling

Disclaimer: Wish all of this was mine, but it's not. It's J.K. Rowling's.

A/N: Yep, such a quick update, isn't it? Well, since this update comes so close to the other one, I don't have much things to say in this Author's Note. Pity. Who knows me is aware that I love long and senseless Author's Notes, which naturally nobody reads… Anyway, I really hope that you'll enjoy this chapter, and have fun reading it.

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for being so quick in beta-reading this chapter.

**Time Travelling**

Ron and Ginny waited for what seemed hours, and maybe they were really hours that passed before Remus was actually back from the Ministry.

"Were you two dozing off?" he asked with a smile as he Apparated into the middle of the room.

Ginny turned her head to look at him. "Even if I wanted I couldn't," she said. "I was too worried for you."

Remus smiled. "Well, it seems that the worry didn't prevent Ron from taking a nap," he said, nodding towards him.

Ginny turned and saw that Ron had fell asleep, his head buried in his arms and his back arched. There was the hushed noise of his snore coming from beneath his arms.

"Yeah," she said while she got to her feet. "Did you find everything?" she asked with her eyes wide.

He nodded and handed her a book.

"'Of Time and Tempus'," she read the title on the cover. "Sounds like the right book, doesn't it?"

"It is," stated Remus, taking the book from her hands and starting to flip through the pages. "Here," he said, giving it back to her. "'Tempus Reveho', I knew that it sounded just like that."

Ginny smiled and looked down at the page, then she frowned. "It doesn't say a lot," she stated, turning the page to see if there was something else.

"No," admitted Remus.

"Why? I thought that it would have been difficult. Very advanced magic," she stated.

"It is, indeed. Very advanced."

"Then why the only thing needed are a couple of crystals and sand?" she asked slowly.

"I didn't invent that spell, Ginny. How should I know?" Remus asked back.

She shrugged and started to read the instructions carefully, muttering some words out loud. "No more than three – only a week – advanced wand-less magic – don't break the circle." She stopped and looked up at Remus. "What does it mean when it says, 'pay lots of attention not to leave any part of your body behind'?" asked Ginny horrified.

"Exactly what it means," answered Remus calmly.

Ginny snapped the book closed. "So," she started, placing it on the table. "Basically, there must be a contact in the present and this person will be linked to the one in the past with one of those crystals, right?" she asked.

"Yes." He took out two shiny crystals, the size of an egg. "One to the traveller and one to the contact. If one of these crystals breaks, the traveller won't be able to come back."

Ginny took one of the crystals from his hands and looked at it intently. "And that would mean changing the past, right?" she whispered.

Remus nodded.

"How do we know in which moment of the past the traveller will land?"

Remus took out a can from his pocket. "We'll have to draw the date with this." He turned the can and some sand fell on his hand.

"Sand," said Ginny, taking up some from his palm. "Common sand?"

"Do you know any non-common sand?" he asked, smiling.

"Nope," she answered. "But why sand?"

"This spell is pretty antique, and in the ancient times the only way they know for measuring the time was with hourglasses. And what were hourglasses made with?"

"Sand. Okay, it makes sense," stated Ginny. "And there'll be a circle too, right?"

"Yes, a circle. The traveller will stay in the middle, while his contact will stay out. They need to be linked in some way while the spell takes place."

"With the crystal."

"Not only. Also with holding hands and making physical contact," stated Remus.

"Why?"

"Because the traveller has to know where he belongs."

"What do you mean?" asked Ginny confused.

"He has to know where to come back."

"Again – what do you mean?" she asked again.

"Well, the fact is that he'll meet other people in the past, maybe he'll become friends with some of them, and he has to know that the past isn't his time," said Remus.

"Do the time-travels affect people's memory?" she asked, concerned.

"Not exactly, but if you need to come back into the past, you know that you'll find a better situation other the one that you left in your time, and you'll want to stay there. The crystal has the function to remind you that you don't belong there, and it amplifies the force of the human link with the other person," explained Remus.

Ginny nodded. "Okay, I think I understand."

"The spell is pretty easy, after all. Maybe if you asked me before the war, I would have told you that it was a difficult one, but now I think that we'll be able to perform it easily," he said, smiling.

"Good," said Ginny, "but there's still something that we need."

"What?"

"The traveller," she answered simply. "We'll have to send a message to the others and ask if anybody wants to volunteer."

Remus looked at her for a long moment, unsure of what she meant. He opened his mouth to answer, but before any sound could exit, Ron answered for him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Ginny and Remus turned their heads towards him; he must have just woken up. "About the spell for time travelling," she answered hastily. "If you haven't been listening, then you can't understand."

Ron rubbed his eyes and tried to focus on his sister. "Well, you could have woken me up," he said bitterly.

"If yesterday you would have gone to bed as I told you, you wouldn't have fallen asleep on the table," she answered sharply.

Ron glared at her. "What were you saying about volunteering?" he asked.

She bit her lips. "I was saying that we need somebody that will agree to go back into the past."

"What the hell," he repeated. "I'll go there."

"No!" said Ginny concerned. "No, you won't."

Ron looked at her surprised, then he started to flush in anger. "Do you think that I'm not good enough for such a risky mission, don't you?"

"Ron, of course she doesn't-"

"Yes, Ron, exactly that," she snapped, cutting Remus off.

Ron's eyes narrowed while he looked at Ginny. "You know that you have great cheek, don't you? I'm not a teenager who needs your advice anymore, and by the way, you aren't mum and you aren't older than me."

Ginny closed her fists and gritted her teeth. "Sometimes you are exactly like a teenager, Ron."

"What the – come on, tell me when I'm like a teenager," he challenged her.

Remus sat down on a chair, knowing that the discussion would go on for a long time.

"When you stay up all night looking at the pictures of a girl that died thirteen years ago," she cried.

Ron turned green. "I can't even do what I want?"

"It's not that," she said slowly.

"And then what is it? It looks like you are just-"

"Do you really want to know why you shouldn't go into the past?" she shrieked. "What do you think you'll do when you'll see Hermione right in front of you? You think you'll be able to ignore her and go after Harry?"

Ron looked at her, taken aback. "I – of course," he whispered.

Ginny shook her head. "No, you won't," she stated. "You still love her."

Ron took a quill that laid on the table and closed it in his hand so tightly that it broke.

"Swear to me that you don't love her anymore," Ginny remarked.

Ron closed his eyes. "I don't love her anymore," he said in a voice that he didn't recognize.

When he opened his eyes he saw that Ginny was looking at him with an unreadable expression on her face. "You're lying," she whispered.

"I swear that I don't love her anymore," he repeated more loudly.

Ginny took a deep breath. "Okay," she said slowly. "But I want to come with you."

Both Ron and Remus looked at her, surprised.

"No way," said Ron.

"Ginny, you can't," said Remus. "You aren't in a condition to face such a travel."

"I don't mind, I want to go as well," she said stubbornly.

Remus got up and, taking her hand, he guided her to a chair. "Ginny, listen, you simply can't do that. You are very close to the end of this pregnancy, if you would start labour while you are there, it would be very dangerous for you to come back at all."

Ginny bit her lips and touched her belly. "Then, Remus, go with him," she said imploringly.

He shook his head. "I can't Ginny."

"Why?"

"Look, you and Ron are very different from how Harry remembers you two, but thirteen years aren't that much for an old man like me," he said.

"You aren't old," she said mechanically.

Remus smiled. "And I would be recognized immediately."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Let's go back in time more than thirteen years. Let's go back when Harry and the others didn't know you yet."

"Oh, yes, and bring here a five-year-old Harry?" asked Ron sarcastically. "It'll be great, I can already imagine the scene, 'Hey, Harry sorry but we can't go looking for You-Know-Who now, you have to take your afternoon nap.'"

Ginny glared at him.

"Accept it, Ginny. I'm the only one here that will be able to do the travel," said Ron.

Ginny couldn't seem to find anything to reply, so she just sat there with her arms crossed above her wide stomach and glared at Ron, who ignored her.

"So, what were you saying about those crystals?" he asked Remus, picking up one from the table.

"You'll have to take one with you," answered Remus, "And one will stay here. We'll know that everything will be alright because the crystal will shine and vice versa."

"Cool," said Ron, smiling. "So, where I'll go?"

"The question, Ron, is 'when'," said Remus. "I think that we'll need the oldest Harry that we can manage to find."

"What about the first week of school the last time we went there?"

"And how do you think you'll get into Hogwarts?" snapped Ginny.

Ron rolled his eyes. "What do you suggest, then?"

She shrugged. "What about the last July that we passed at the Burrow altogether?" she asked.

"Oh, yes of course as-"

Ginny waved her hand annoyed. "It's a great idea, Ron. Remember what happened that July? Bill and Fleur's wedding. And the Burrow was full of guests, some of which mum and dad didn't even know existed. You can go there and disguise yourself as one of dad's distant relatives."

Ron snorted. She was right, extremely right. "Okay," he muttered.

Ginny smirked.

"Listen, Remus," said Ron, who was trying to cut Ginny out of the conversation. "What exactly should I do for-"

"Great, he doesn't even know what to do," muttered Ginny under her breath.

"-bringing Harry here?" continued Ron, ignoring her.

"All you'll have to do is touch him and the crystal at the same time and think of the person who will be your contact here. You'll be transported here with him. Pay lots of attention that he's not touching anybody else, because although that person will be dragged with you," said Remus.

Ron nodded. "Okay, that's the technical part, but I meant something like: should I tell him who I am?"

Remus looked pensive. "No, I don't think so. He wouldn't even believe you."

"Then I should just kidnap him, right?" asked Ron uneasily. "And you think that nobody will stop me?"

"Okay, listen," snapped Ginny. Ron sighed but didn't say anything, and tried to pay attention to his sister with as much calm as possible. "You go there, let's say a week before the wedding, do you remember how stressed Mum was because the house was full of people? Well, you claim that you are a distant cousin of Dad and that you come from far, far away; you don't know a place to stay and ask for their hospitality. Have you ever seen mum refuse hospitality to somebody?" Ron shook his head. "Good, you start to become friends with Harry, talk to him about everything he likes and stuff like that, can you remember Quidditch?"

"Ginny, Quidditch is unforgettable," stated Ron haughtily.

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Okay, talk to him about Quidditch and stuff like that, and then you have a week to bring him somewhere where the others won't see you and-" She snapped her fingers. "-you'll be back with him in no time."

"Can't I simply go there, take his hand and come back here?" Ron asked bored.

"No, Ron," said Remus gently. "Because you can't be seen while you perform the transportation, and I can't remember I've ever seen Harry all alone at the Burrow. So there'll be testimonies of a strange man that appears from nowhere and kidnap Harry. And then Harry wouldn't be very inclined in helping us if you take him away from his friends like that."

Ron's jaw dropped. "We are the same friends that he has there," he said. "Of course he'll help us."

"Oh yes, and it will take us more time to calm him down from the surprise than train him for the battle," sentenced Ginny.

"Right," said Ron mockingly. "Because he won't be scared to death when I'll bring him here."

Ginny darkened. "He's never been scared to death."

Ron took a deep sigh. "You're right," he agreed.

Remus cleared his throat. "Well, I think that it will take him some time either way to understand what has happened to him. Just show him that the Ron from his future hadn't turned into a Death Eater, okay?" he said, smiling.

Both Ron and Ginny looked at him and grinned. "Okay," answered Ron.

"Good," said Remus, standing up.

"When will I be leaving?" asked Ron.

"As soon as possible. Give me the time to prepare everything," he told Ron. "And you should prepare yourself as well."

"What? What do you mean?" asked Ron, looking at his robes.

"I think that Ginny can help you get ready, don't you, Ginny?" asked Remus while he started to pour the sand on the floor.

Ginny nodded and looked at Ron happily.

"I know what you are thinking, Ginny, and the answer is no," sentenced Ron hastily.

Ginny stood up and walked towards him. She placed her hands on his head and ran her fingers through his hair.

Ron pushed her away. "You won't cut my hair," he said darkly.

Ginny snorted. "Remus, tell him that he can't go there with his hair so long."

"Why? My hair is just a little bit longer than Bill's was," he said, passing his hand through his hair. "By the way, you should cut yours," he added as he took a long lock of her red hair in his hands.

"My hair is fine," she said.

"It reaches the bottom of your back," said Ron.

"I'm a woman," said Ginny. "And we aren't talking about me. Come on, Ron, it won't be too painful."

"It'll be when I look in the mirror."

"Then don't look in a mirror for the next two years," stated Ginny, passing a hand through his hair and making some locks fall on the floor as if she had just used a pair of scissors.

"Hey, stop it," said Ron, pushing her away.

Ginny sighed. "I've already started, now if you stay like that you'll look like an incredible imbecile," she said frankly.

Ron snorted and let her cut her hair, so that at the end it was just under his ears. "Happy?" he asked to her.

"Yep," she said, walking away. "Now, you'll need some clothes."

"I'll bring mine," he said hastily.

"They're all ruined."

"Good, because I don't know if you can remember, but Dad's relatives have never been rich," he said truthfully.

"A point for you," said Ginny. She walked towards the cupboard and picked out a wooden stick. She turned and gave it to Ron.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, taking his wand from her hands.

"In the past we needed our wands, they'll look at you strangely if you don't use it," said Ginny matter-of-factly.

"Okay," he said, placing the wand into his pocket.

"You still know how to use it, right?" she asked mockingly.

"Wanna try?" he asked back jokingly.

"No, I believe you. Now let's prepare your trunk." She snapped her fingers and the door of the bedroom burst open, and a trunk came levitating towards them. Ginny opened it and started to list all the things that Ron had, which zoomed from the other room into the trunk.

"Here you are," said Ginny, when all Ron's things were in the trunk. "That should work."

"Yeah, well, take out a pair of jeans and a shirt," he said.

Ginny took them out from the trunk and handed them to Ron, who took the clothes and went to change in the other room.

"Have I got everything?" he asked, looking around.

"I guess so – oh, my! The crystal, Ron! Don't forget it!" shrieked Ginny.

"Right," he mumbled, walking towards the table. He picked up one of the crystals and closed his hand around it; when he opened it there was a long chain attached to it. He wore it. "How do I look?" he asked Ginny, grinning.

Ginny smiled back. "Better if you keep it under your shirt, close to your bare skin."

"Obviously," he said, making the crystal slide under his shirt. "I'm ready," he said.

"Me too," said Remus from the centre of the room.

Ron and Ginny looked in his direction. A circle drawn with sand lay on the floor, and Remus kneeled in the middle of it. "Have you decided the date?" he asked with some sand in his hands.

"The week before Bill and Fleur's wedding," said Ginny promptly.

Remus nodded. "When was that?"

"Their wedding was the 22nd of July, so I guess that the 15th should work," Ginny stopped and smiled. "Just like today."

"Yes, just like today," stated Remus. He drew the date and got up, shaking some sand away from his robes. "Have you taken the crystal with you?"

Ron nodded.

"Okay, I'll take the other," said Remus. He moved towards the table, but Ginny seized it before Remus could even stretch out his arm.

"I'll take it," she said seriously. "I want to be his contact here."

Ron looked at Remus. "She won't bother me even there, will she?"

Remus smiled. "No, she won't be able to know what you'll be doing, but she'll feel you. Very softly, but she'll feel you."

"And I'll feel her?"

"Yes, feebly."

"Fine then," said Ron. "Where should I stay?"

Remus walked out of the circle. "Right in the middle," he said, pointing to the place that he had just left.

Ron walked in with his trunk, paying attention not to ruin the circle.

"Now, Ginny, since you are his contact, take his hand – pay attention not to enter or touch the sand," said Remus.

Ginny nodded. She stretched out a hand in Ron's direction and he took it. Ginny looked into Ron's eyes. "Pay attention," she whispered.

Ron looked at her taken aback. "I-I will," he muttered.

"Promise me that you'll come back," she said, while her eyes filled with tears.

"I promise, and I'll bring Harry with me," he said, squeezing her hand.

"Are you ready, Ron?" asked Remus.

Ron nodded. "Good," Remus said, looking at him intently. Then he started to mutter words in a language that both Ron and Ginny didn't know. They heard a roar and a wind started to blow in the room, raising the sand. They all had to shut their eyes and close their mouths because of the sand.

Ginny felt Ron's hand becoming insubstantial. She tightened her own around his, but in a few seconds it had disappeared.

The wind stopped as quickly as it had appeared. Ginny felt a hand on her shoulder, and she opened her eyes and saw Remus. She looked into the circle and noticed that Ron had disappeared.

"Did everything go all right?" she asked, gaping at the circle, which in someway had managed to survive the wind.

"I don't know," he admitted.

Then Ginny felt a warmth in her hands and looked down. The crystal was shining.

"He's fine," whispered Remus into her ear.

---

Meanwhile, exactly thirteen years earlier, Ron fell near the pond of the Burrow with his trunk by his side. When he opened his eyes he was blinded by the sunlight, something that he was no longer accustomed to.

He got to his feet and looked around, while a sharp pain found its way into his heart as his eyes fell on the familiar landscape that he hadn't seen in so many years. He snapped his fingers and the trunk levitated next to him and followed him while he walked towards the Burrow.

Ron swallowed hard before finding the courage to knock on the door of the Burrow, and his heart skipped a beat when he heard his mum's voice saying, "I'm coming."


	4. Thirteen Years Before

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I would, but I don't.

A/N: Hmm, I don't like this chapter. I don't like the chapters that take place into the past, sorry. I think that the later ones will be more exciting, yep! There will also be one character that I love to portrait. Oh, but I don't want to spoil you anything. Anyway, I hope that _you_ will like it. Bye!

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for correcting this chapter, and for helping me with my English.

**Thirteen Years Before**

When Mrs. Weasley opened the door, Ron's world seemed to shatter. His mother was there, right in front of him. He didn't remember her to be so small, or maybe it was that he had become even taller in the last years. Ron felt the urge to hug her with all his strength, because only with her figure right in front of him did he understand how badly he had missed her.

Then Molly's hand started to wave in front of his eyes. "I asked you if you are alright," she asked, concerned. How could she be concerned for someone who she was supposed to have never seen?

Ron focused on her face and nodded.

Mrs. Weasley smiled, reassured. "May I help you?" she asked.

Ron opened his mouth, but felt like he had forgotten all the things that he should have said. He just nodded.

"What's your name?" Molly asked.

"Ro – Robert," said Ron, changing his mind at the last minute. "Robert Weasley."

Mrs. Weasley seemed surprised. "You are one of Arthur's relatives, aren't you?"

Ron nodded, while he remembered what he should have said. "Yes, and you must be Molly, right? I came here for Bill's wedding."

"Oh, really?" she exclaimed. "Well, Arthur finally remembered to send the invitations, then."

"I guess so," he answered, smiling.

"Please, Robert come in," she said, guiding him inside the Burrow. "Where are you from?"

Ron thought of something quickly. "Scotland," he said.

"Oh, well, it doesn't look like," said Molly distractedly. "I mean your accent doesn't seem Scottish."

"Well, I mask it pretty well," he answered slowly.

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "How did you get here, dear?" she asked interested.

"I Apparated," he answered.

"You know that you are a little bit early, don't you?" asked Molly gently. "The wedding isn't until next week."

Ron had to decide quickly which strategy use. He decided to sound surprised. "Really? Oh, bloody hell, my parents must have got it wrong, as always," he said, then decided to bury his head in his hands in a very dramatic gesture. "I have no place to stay."

Molly patted him gently on his shoulder. "Well, I think that you can Apparate back home and come back in a week," she said caringly.

Ron took a deep breath. "I can't," he said.

"Why not, dear?"

"Because my parents aren't at home and they didn't leave me any keys," he answered, hoping that his mother didn't ask any other questions and that she wouldn't consider him a strange type, since as old as he looked he'd said that he was still living with his parents.

"How old are you, dear?" she asked him as if reading his mind.

"Thirty," he muttered.

Molly stared at him, then smiled. "I see, well, there's no reason that you can't stay here for a while. We have enough room for everybody," she stated cheerfully.

Ron's face lightened up. "Really? Thanks a lot Molly–I can call you Molly, right?"

Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Yes, you can. Or better, I think that you should call me Aunt Molly."

Ron nodded.

At that moment the door opened and Mr. Weasley entered. Ron had to do his best not to jump on him and hug him.

"Good morning, Molly," he said to Mrs. Weasley. "And who are you?" he asked, looking at Ron.

Ron took a step towards him with his hand stretched. "Robert Weasley, sir."

Mr. Weasley shook his hand. "Oh, another Weasley," he said amused. "Here for the wedding, aren't you?"

Ron nodded. Mr. Weasley gestured to him to sit down on the couch in the living room, while he sat on an armchair. "So, Robert, who are your parents?"

"Arthur, don't be impolite!" cried Mrs. Weasley.

"What?" he asked calmly. "I simply can't remember all my relatives. They are so many, and then, sorry boy, but Robert Weasley doesn't exactly remind me of anybody."

"It's okay," said Ron, grinning. "I'm the son of the brother of the uncle of the cousin that had married that girl, who was the mother of the man that had that son that was the grandfather of the cousin of the father of Uncle Bilius," he said so hastily that he hoped they had understood as much as him.

Molly and Arthur exchanged looks. "Yeah, well, you're family," concluded Arthur.

Ron nodded. "Naturally."

"So, what are you doing here a week before the wedding?" asked Arthur.

"I've mistaken the date, and now I need a place to stay," Ron answered slowly.

"Well, you can stay here, right Molly?"

"Of course, Arthur, I've already offered for him to stay at the Burrow," she answered calmly.

"Very well, I think that you can borrow the twins' room," said Arthur.

"No, he can't," said Molly gently. "Bill and Fleur are using it."

Arthur rubbed his head. "Oh, well, Percy hasn't answered the last owl, right Molly?"

Molly shook her head sadly.

"Very well, I think that you can sleep his room then," he said.

Ron tried hard to recall if Percy had showed up some days before the wedding or only that very day, and found relief when he remembered that he'd made just a short appearance during the wedding.

"Thank you," he said.

"Sure, Robert. Do you want me to show you his room?"

"No, thanks, I know where-" he stopped when he remembered that he shouldn't know that. "I mean, yes please," he said hastily. He snapped his fingers and his trunk started to levitate next to him.

Arthur and Molly looked at him with their eyes wide. Ron panicked and made the trunk fall right next his feet with a loud 'clang'. "S-sorry," he stammered.

"Don't you have a wand?" asked Molly.

"Yes, of course," Ron pulled his wand out of his pocket and waved it, and the trunk started to levitate again, this time shaking a little bit. "I didn't do it in purpose," he lied. "I wanted to-"

Luckily some footsteps on the stairs turned everybody's attention towards who was climbing down.

A small girl with red hair and lots of freckles entered the living room. She stopped when she spotted Ron. "Who are you?" she asked surprised.

"Ginny, don't be impolite," said Mrs. Weasley, just like she'd done to Mr. Weasley. "He's Robert. One of your dad's relatives."

"Hi, Ginny," said Ron amused.

Ginny looked intently at him. "You look familiar," she stated.

"You too," he answered. "Maybe it's our hair."

Ginny shrugged.

"Ginny, dear, tell your brother and his friends to come down and meet Robert quickly," said Molly.

Ginny snorted and climbed up the first stairs. "Ron!" she yelled. "Ron! Come down, we have a guest!"

"Ginny!" thundered Mrs. Weasley. "I could have called him like that as well."

"Then why did you ask me?" she asked simply.

Ron knew that Ginny was pushing his Mum's patience and smiled broadly, but before Mrs. Weasley could reply to her daughter, some other footsteps echoed down the stairs.

Ron watched as his younger self descended the stairs, followed by Harry.

Ron had to close his hands into fists to fight the urge to hug Harry. He didn't remember that he had been so small, with his huge green eyes and untidy hair.

"Hermione will be right here, Mum," said the younger Ron to Molly. "She was still unpacking."

Ron felt a lump forming in his throat as he heard himself speaking Hermione's name so nonchalantly, something that he hadn't done in a long time.

Molly nodded. "Robert, this is my younger son, Ron, and his best friend, Harry Potter," she said, smiling.

"Hi Ron," he greeted him, feeling an odd sensation as he talked to himself. "Hi Harry."

Everybody looked at Robert, expecting something else. He looked at them and tried to think hard about what he was missing. Then it occurred to him. "Oh, my! You are Harry Potter!"

Everybody relaxed a little bit, except for Harry, who'd definitely felt better when he'd just said 'hi Harry.'

Harry nodded. "I am," he answered.

"Nice," said Ron, who couldn't find anything else to say to his best friend.

"Yeah," said Harry slowly.

Then they were interrupted again by someone who was climbing down the stairs.

Ron raised his eyes and felt like he didn't have enough air in his lungs. Hermione was climbing down the stairs. A cascade of curls ran down her shoulders, above a yellow knee-length dress. Her wand stuck out of a pocket, and she had a book in her hand. She wasn't beautiful, nor sexy, but when she walked down those stairs Ron felt his love for her come back to new life.

"Good morning," Hermione said shyly. She looked at him and smiled, showing her perfect white teeth, and when she stretched out an arm towards him, he didn't even notice, because his eyes were locked on her features.

Hermione stood there for a while with her arm stretched in front of her; then, since he wasn't shaking her hand, she started to blush.

"Hey, you all right?" Ron heard Ginny's voice saying.

He looked at her and gasped, noticing at that very moment that he was holding his breath. "Yeah, I'm fine," he muttered. He turned towards Hermione, who had let her hand drop and was now visibly embarrassed.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, why don't you go outside; it's a sunny day and you can have a nice swim in the pond," suggested Mrs. Weasley.

"Yeah, let's go, Harry," said the younger Ron, walking out of the house with him, followed closely by Hermione and Ginny, who were whispering into each other's ears.

Ron stared at Hermione until she was out of sight.

"Robert."

She was there--naturally he knew that she would have been there, and he had thought that he was ready to see her again, but when he saw her all his certainties had been destroyed.

"Robert!"

Ron turned slowly towards his father. "Yes?" he asked lightly.

"You all right, boy?" asked Mr. Weasley, concerned.

Ron nodded forcefully, trying to sound convincing and clarifying his mind all at once. "Yes," he answered.

"Good, I'll lead you to your room, then," Mr. Weasley said, climbing up the stairs.

Ron followed his father, but since he was quite slow, he had to pay lots of attention not to walk faster than him and go straight to Percy's room.

"Here you are," said Mr. Weasley. "Go on unpacking your things; we'll be waiting for you outside. It's a nice day and we can have a walk on the grounds around the Burrow."

Ron nodded and thanked his father. When he was left alone, he placed a hand on his shirt and felt the crystal right under the material. It was warm. He took it out, and saw that it was shining.

He looked around; Percy's room was exactly like he remembered--a bed, a bedside table, a wardrobe and a huge desk. He sat on the bed and looked at his trunk. Then, with a lazy movement of his hand, he made it burst open and all his things flew into the wardrobe.

Ron stood up from the chair and looked out of the window. Harry and his younger self were already in the water, while Ginny and Hermione were sitting under a tree, chatting animatedly.

He saw the two boys emerging from the water and go to rest near them. His young self was so near to Hermione that it seemed like he could have touched her. But it didn't happen.

"Stupid git," muttered Ron. Then, being aware that he was insulting himself, he walked away from the window and climbed down the stairs.

He exited into the garden, where his father was sitting at a table. "Ah, Robert, do you know what these are?" he asked, showing him some plugs.

"Plugs," he said flatly, looking towards the pond.

Arthur smiled brightly. "Very good, are you interested in Muggle things?"

"What? Oh, no, no," he said slowly. "I'm just well informed."

"I see," said Arthur. "Well, you know, our Hermione is a Muggle-born. I think that it will be fascinating for us to have her in our family."

Ron turned his head towards him so quickly that he had to rub his neck for the pain after that. "Really?" he asked.

Arthur nodded. "Can you pass me that plug, Robert?"

Ron passed him the first thing that he found with his hand.

"Thank you, Robert," said Mr. Weasley, perplexed, looking at the spoon that Ron had just passed him.

"What did you say? Will she become part of the family?" asked Ron.

Arthur smiled. "I hope so."

"Who-"

"Ron, naturally," he said hastily.

"What?"

"Ron," repeated Mr. Weasley. "It's clear as day that he fancies her."

Ron blushed of such a deep shade of red that Mr. Weasley looked at him concernedly. "Robert, are you okay?"

"Yes," he muttered. Even his father knew that he fancied her. Why had nobody ever told him, then? He'd had to wait to lose her in order to understand how much he'd really cared. At that very moment the four friends came back from their little swim and sat down at the table with Ron and Mr. Weasley, snapping Ron out of his thoughts.

"How was the water?" asked Mr. Weasley distractedly.

"Nice," said the younger Ron, and started to shake himself off. When he noticed that everybody apart from Robert was looking at him questioningly, he said, "We have to dry up quickly because we want to play Quidditch, and Mum doesn't let us play while we're all wet."

"Honestly, Ron!" said Hermione, taking out her wand and casting a drying charm on Ron.

"Thanks Hermione," he said hastily. "Let's go Harry!"

"Hey, I want to play as well," stated Ginny.

"You can't, there're only three," said the young Ron. "But maybe Hermione wants to play," he added, looking at her with a grin.

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "I don't think so," she said, and dived behind her book.

"See? You can't play, Ginny," said Ron.

"Maybe Robert wants to play," she said quickly.

Everybody turned their eyes on Ron, but he didn't even notice; he was still staring at Hermione, even though her face was hidden behind a tome that Ron suspected was _Hogwarts: A History_. When Hermione had said that '_honestly Ron,' _he could have hugged her with all his strength and never let her go. He could have buried his face in her hair, just because he'd heard the sound of her voice. He didn't even want to think what he would do if she touched him.

"Robert?" asked Ginny, louder.

"Yes?"

"Wanna play some Quidditch?" asked Harry.

"Yes," he said, smiling. He got up and followed them behind the Burrow. "Your friend isn't going to watch us?" he asked them.

"Who, Hermione?" asked the young Ron. "Nope, she isn't exactly into Quidditch, she's the craziest person on Earth." He grinned.

Ron smiled. "Yes, I know," he said dreamily.

Harry glanced at him. "You don't even know her," he sentenced.

Ron blushed. "Well, it looks like she's quite different from you. I mean she doesn't like Quidditch and she likes reading. Do you?"

"What?"

"Like reading?" asked Ron, feeling the urge to change subject.

"Well – no," said Harry truthfully.

Ron grinned. "But you like Quidditch, right?" he said.

"Yes," answered Harry.

They reached the broom closet behind the Burrow and everybody picked up his own broom. "I've only one of this old broom for you," said the younger Ron, flushing. "I hope it's not too mediocre for you," he added hastily. "Do you have a broom?"

The older Ron took the broom from his hands. "It's fine with me. You know, in my family we aren't exactly rich," he said. "I don't have a broom, because I don't even have a place to use it."

"Really? Where do you live?" asked Ginny, mounting her broom.

"Up north, in Scotland," said the older Ron.

"Where exactly?"

"Near Edinburgh," answered Ron, which was the only city that he knew in Scotland, a part from Hogsmeade.

"And what is your job?" asked Harry.

Ron looked down at the broom in his hands and bit his bottom lip. Why hadn't he prepared a whole story to tell them about Robert Weasley? If Ginny would have been there she would have told him that he was a stupid old–he stopped the flow of his thoughts and smiled. Ginny _was_ there, how odd that was.

"Well, you know, I do a little bit of this and a little bit of that," he said vaguely.

"So you don't have a job," stated Ginny.

Both Rons glared at her. "No, actually, let's say that I fight the forces of the Dark."

"Like an Auror?" asked Harry.

Ron liked the idea of being an Auror. "Yes, like an Auror."

"But all Aurors must report to the Ministry of Magic in London," said Ginny. "Our Dad has never seen you there."

"I said that I was a kind of Auror, not exactly one," said Ron.

"So what are you?"

"You know that _you_ are annoying, don't you?" asked Ron, smiling.

Ginny shrugged. "Sometimes."

"No, always," said the younger Ron, grinning. "You know I think I like you, Robert."

Ron couldn't help smiling. "Thank you. So, are we gonna play or do you want to stay here the whole afternoon?"

They all mounted on their brooms. Ron was quite unsure on his broom at first--it was more than ten years since he'd mounted one of them.

The younger Ron and Harry played against the older Ron and Ginny. They thought that the match would have been balanced because of Ginny, a girl, playing with a grown-up man against Ron and Harry, but actually it was thanks to Ginny that they didn't lose too many points.

Finally, Mrs. Weasley called them for dinner. They ate outside, since it was a nice evening, and Ron was introduced to all his other brothers--Bill, Charlie, Fred and George, and Fleur, naturally, which he found extremely funny.

He spoke with everybody about everything, but the only person to whom he couldn't really talk or make eye contact seemed to be Hermione. He felt the world vanishing around him when she just asked him for the bread, and Fred had to pass it to her.

That night, Ron lay awake on Percy's bed for what seemed ages. He stared at the ceiling without even seeing it, and when sleep finally entangled him, he dreamt of Hermione all night long.


	5. Visiting Diagon Alley

Disclaimer: I own not Harry Potter.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, not my fault this time. Anyway, I really hope that you'll like this chapter, I personally prefer the ones in the future, instead of the past, but never mind that. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it.

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for the wonderful job.

**Visiting Diagon Alley**

Ron rolled over in bed, a happy expression on his face. He was still sleeping, and it had been a long time since he'd slept like that. First of all, he was in a real bed, and not in that camp-bed that he was used to. And then there was nobody who snored - like Remus - or kept going to the bathroom at the most unthinkable hours of the night - like Ginny.

And for the first time in a long while, he was dreaming something pleasant--not the same horrible dream in which he watched all his friends and relatives die in the war, without being able to do anything. He was having sweet dreams about a certain brown haired witch, who was sleeping in another room of the same house.

Ron opened his eyes slowly when he heard his mum screaming--apparently against his younger self, and apparently about Diagon Alley. He tried to remember what it could have been all about, and remembered that his mum hadn't let him, Harry, Ginny and Hermione go shopping because they'd had nobody to go with.

He stood up from the bed and looked at the calendar hanging on the wall. It was only the second day that he was there; he still had six more days for thinking how to act. Naturally, the earlier he brought Harry into the future the better it would be. He stopped for a second. _Future_? He meant the _present_.

He thought that he would have loved to see Diagon Alley again; now there wasn't much left of it. It was something like 'Nokturn Alley II', and he didn't have the chance to visit it, nor the will.

He decided that that day he would take them to Diagon Alley. Not a big change in the past, he thought, as he dressed. He glanced at the bedroom, and lazily waved his hand to make the bed and collect his wand. Then he placed a hand on his chest and, feeling the warmth of the crystal, felt reassured.

He walked down towards the kitchen and greeted his mother.

"Robert, dear," answered Mr. Weasley. "I hope that my screams didn't wake you up."

"Actually Molly, they did, but never mind that. I heard that Ron and his friends want to go to Diagon Alley. I can take them there, if you want," he offered, starting to attack the generous breakfast that laid on the table. It had been a long time since he had a proper breakfast, which did not consist of tea and only tea.

Molly looked at him surprised. "Would you?"

"Yes, why not?" asked Ron.

"Because they are terrible sometimes, and you have to keep a very close eye on them all. It's unsafe wandering around in the streets all alone in these times," she said with a shiver.

"They won't die today," muttered Ron bitterly.

"What?" asked Mrs. Weasley, as she dropped the knife that she was holding.

"I said that I'll take care of them," said Ron hastily. "And they'll be safe with me."

"Yes, Ron had told me that you're something like an Auror," she said distractedly. "What do you do exactly?"

He needed to find a hypothetical job. Saying that he spent all his time with his sister and his brother-in-law, waiting to go out and fight as many Death Eaters as possible, didn't sound very appealing. "I – well, I'm in an Order," he said vaguely.

"Order?"

"Yeah, but it's a secret thing, and I can't say much."

"I see," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "Don't worry. I won't ask you anything else."

Ron nodded. "Well, I'm ready to go, if you want to collect the children and tell them that I'll take them to Diagon Alley," he said, standing up.

"Okay," said Mrs. Weasley, feeling everything but secure. "And Robert, dear, if I were you, I would rather not call them children. They are really sensitive on the subject."

Ron grinned involuntary. "But they're so small," he said amused.

"They are almost all adults, Harry will turn seventeen the thirty-first of July," said Mrs. Weasley, walking towards the stairs to call them.

"What?" called the younger Ron from upstairs.

"Get ready, you're going to Diagon Alley with Robert!"

"And Ginny will turn seventeen next year, the eleventh of August," sighed Ron, remembering how sad her birthday had been after the war, with nobody but him and Remus.

"Exactly," said Mrs. Weasley. "Did she tell you?"

"S-sure," stammered Ron.

The younger Ron, Harry, Ginny and Hermione climbed down the stairs. "We're ready," said Ginny hastily.

"Yeah, well, I think you should thank Robert, who has generously offered to take you there," said Mrs. Weasley with a frown.

"Thank you," they all said together.

"Sure," answered Ron. "Well, better if we go," he added, walking towards the chimney. He took some Floo powder, entered the fireplace, and said, "Diagon Alley."

Harry followed him, then the younger Ron, Ginny and finally Hermione. When Ron spotted her walking out of the fireplace and shaking the ash from her dress, he couldn't help smiling.

"Let's go Robert; we'll show you our brothers' shop," said Ginny.

They walked down the street until they reached the twins' shop, which seemed full of customers--just like Ron has always remembered it.

"Here's our brothers' shop," said Ginny. "They sell a little bit of everything, from gifts to potions to pets."

"I know," said Ron absent-mindedly.

"Did Mum tell you?"

Ron looked at her and cursed his stupidity. "Not exactly, but it's quite clear even from the window which business they're in."

Ginny shrugged. "Hermione, let's go inside. I want to buy a friend for Arnold." And with that, she dragged Hermione inside the shop.

"Her Pigmy Puff," muttered the younger Ron, shaking his head.

Ron nodded.

Harry glanced at him. "Do you know what a Pigmy Puff is?"

"No," he said hastily. He kept on forgetting that he shouldn't know some things, and that some times he should pretend to be genuinely surprised. "A pet?"

"Kind of, my brothers invented them, I think," said the younger Ron. "They don't talk much about their inventions and stuff like that; not with me at least."

"I know – I mean, it must be frustrating," said Ron.

"Well, I don't tell them my own business, so let's say that we're even. And I don't care about them at all," he said.

Ron looked at his younger self, and knew that he was lying. He knew perfectly well how his anger boiled when the twins didn't let him take the jokes freely, while they offered the Daydream Charm to Ginny and Hermione.

"Better if we enter," said Harry. "I want to buy something for-" He glanced at the older Ron and lowered his voice. "-you know what," he added to Ron.

The younger Ron nodded, but mentally, even the old one nodded. He knew what Harry was talking about, and it was nothing good--naturally some of the jokes that they bought at the Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes helped them in creating some distractions during the war, but they were just jokes. Ron felt embittered about their stupidity.

He entered the shop behind them and pushed his way through the crowd, until reaching the counter.

"Hey, Robert!" Fred greeted him. "How are you doing? What are you doing here? Baby-sitting?"

Ron smiled; two years older than the others and they already thought they were so grown up. What would have they have done when they reached his age? Ron shivered--they would never reach his age.

"Actually, I proposed to bring them here. I wanted to have a look at Diagon Alley, and at your shop," he said, smiling. 'Good move, Ron,' he thought to himself.

Fred smiled. "Well, have a look around, then and take whatever you want. We're buying."

Ron looked at him, startled. Fred was actually offering him some of the shop goods; that was incredible. But naturally he wasn't offering them to Ron, but to Robert. "Thank you," he answered. "But I think that I'm a little bit old for these things." He thought that this would have disappointed Fred, but on the contrary, he saw him flush slightly. It was the first time that he actually saw his brother flush.

"Some of our goods have been ordered by the Ministry itself," he pointed out.

Ron smiled; the Ministry wouldn't have lasted a day after the war. Scrimgeour's head still hung on the oak door of Hogwarts. "Really?"

Fred nodded, and with a hint of smugness said, "Yes, we are quite famous here."

"Hey, Ron! Why don't you take one of these?" yelled George, tossing him a small bottle. "A love potion! Maybe then you'll finally make a move on someone," he added, nodding towards an unaware Hermione.

Harry burst into laughter while the younger Ron turned a lovely bright pink colour. He hastily placed the bottle of love potion between some Fanged Frisbees, and walked towards Ginny, screaming at her because she was taking too much time to choose the Pigmy Puff. "They're all the same," Ron heard himself say.

Ginny hissed something to him that he didn't quite catch, but he was quite sure that she would have never said that in front of their mum. Then she grabbed a Pigmy Puff rather rudely and went to Fred and George to pay for it.

"Maybe it's better if we move along," suggested the older Ron, walking towards them. "Where would you like to go?"

"What about the Magical Menagerie?" asked Harry.

"I have to go to Quality Quidditch Supplies," pointed out the younger Ron. "At least before we go back home."

"Can't we have a look at Flourish and Blotts?" asked Hermione.

"Hermione, you don't need another book. You can go on reading 'Hogwarts: A History' for the rest of your life," said the younger Ron, annoyed.

Hermione glared at him. "At least I know how to read, Ronald Weasley," she said sharply.

"Oh, my! You hurt me, Hermione," said Ron jokingly.

Hermione turned her back on him and crossed her arms over her chest.

The older Ron had to restrain himself for hitting his younger self. How could he be so stupid? Hermione really wanted to go to Flourish and Blotts; why did he always have to ruin things for her? Ron decided that without any doubt their first stop would be the book shop. "Let's go to Flourish and Blotts," he said cheerfully. He bid goodbye to Fred and George and started to walk out of the shop and towards the book shop.

He heard Harry and Ron snorting, but he hoped that Hermione was grinning. When they reached the shop he held the door open for Hermione to enter, and as she smiled at him he felt the world vanishing another time around him; he let go of the door and it crashed on Harry's nose. But Ron didn't even notice. He followed Hermione with his gaze until she disappeared between the shelves with the familiar smile on her face that appeared every time she was among books.

Ron took a deep breath and decided that he was going to talk to her; he couldn't waste the opportunity. He walked towards the shelf where he'd seen her disappear and circled it, finding Hermione with a huge book in her hands.

"Is it interesting?" he asked, without recognizing his own voice.

Hermione looked up at his face, taken aback. "Yes, Mr. Weasley," she answered.

Ron felt his heart skipping a beat. _Mr. Weasley?_

"Please, call me Ron," he said, smiling. But his smile faded quite quickly. "Robert! I meant Robert," he said hastily.

Hermione looked at him strangely and nodded. "Y-yes, Robert," she stammered.

"So, I heard that you read 'Hogwarts: A History'; did you like it?" he asked in a high tone of voice.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, it's wonderful--the most interesting book I've ever read and – did you read it?"

Ron smiled. He had. He'd had plenty of time to read whatever he wanted since he'd had to live in the bunker. "Yes, I loved it." It was true. Maybe it was because it had been Hermione's favourite book, but he thought that it was really good.

"Ron and Harry think that it's just a waste of time reading," she said, nodding towards them, who leaned against the wall with bored expressions.

"They'll change their minds, give them some time," sentenced Ron. "At least Ron will," he muttered.

"I can't really see Ron reading 'Hogwarts: A History'; he would fall asleep after the first three lines," she said, smiling.

Ron couldn't help smiling as well. A Hermione that was wrong about something--that was actually a moment to remember. "You never know," he answered simply.

She grinned. "No, I guess I don't. But I'm ready to bet on that."

Ron grinned back, but didn't answer.

"Hermione, have you chosen something?" the younger Ron's bored voice reached them.

"No," she snapped. "I'm looking for something to read while you are all off playing Quidditch."

The older Ron glanced through the shelf and picked up a book. "Why don't you try this?" he asked, handing it gently to her.

Hermione took it and saw that the title read, _House-elves, Thousands Years of Mistreatment_. Ron saw her face light up. "I've read it," he said. "It's really interesting. I think that people should do something for those poor creatures."

Ron couldn't help blushing when he noticed that Hermione was staring at him in adoration. 'Has she ever looked at me that way?' he asked himself. 'No, she hasn't.'

"You know," began Hermione shyly. "I started something like an association for defending those poor elves, back in my fourth year. But my friends haven't been exactly supportive. I called it 'Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare'."

Ron pretended to think. "S.P.E.W.," he spelled carefully. "Sounds nice."

Hermione looked at him with her eyes huge, and for a moment he thought that she was going to cry. "Do you really think so?" she asked.

Ron nodded, and against any expectation, he was sincere. He was really interested in S.P.E.W., since it was such a big deal to Hermione. He'd thought it over and over, and now he really wished he'd joined her back at school, just so he'd have been able to pass some more time with her.

"I would be honoured to join that association," he said. Better late than never.

Hermione smiled. "Of course," she said eagerly. "When we get back to the Burrow, I'll write your name on the list of people that've joined S.P.E.W."

Ron nodded.

"Harry and Ron will never believe that," she added, walking hastily towards the bench to pay for the book.

They continued the tour of Diagon Alley until late that afternoon, and after they had been in all the shops still open, they used the chimney of the Magical Menagerie to get back to the Burrow, where Mrs. Weasley was waiting for them.

"Did you have a good time?" she asked them, looking intently at each face to be sure that they were alright.

"Yes," answered Ginny. "Mum, I bought another Pigmy Puff; I'll place it with Arnold. And I think I'll call it Liusbi."

"Nice name," said her mum distractedly. "Robert, did they behave at all?"

"Sure, Molly. We had a great time together," answered Ron.

"Good. Dinner will be ready in half an hour, go and get ready," she said to all of them.

They nodded, and Ron wondered how long it was since he'd heard his mother say such ordinary things in such a serene way. He walked towards the stairs and heard Hermione saying, "I'll sign you up for S.P.E.W., Robert, then." And his young self replying, "Let him alone, Hermione. Can't you see that he's accepting only because you are bothering him?"

He heard Hermione storming away and the door of Ginny's bedroom shut behind her.

Ron sighed. 'Ron, you know that you really are a stupid prat?'

---

Ginny stared at the crystal in her hands so deeply in concentration that when she felt Remus' hand on her shoulder, she jumped in surprise.

"He's fine," said Remus calmly. "The crystal is warm and shiny."

Ginny nodded, but couldn't help fixing her eyes on the crystal. "He has only five more days. What if he doesn't come back in time?"

Remus sighed. "He'll be stuck in the past."

Ginny swallowed. 'Come on, Ron. We need you here,' she thought intensely, hoping that in some way her prayer would reach him through time.


	6. Just a Little Change

Disclaimer: Not mine, not at all.

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for my delay, this chapter was ready to be posted ages ago, but I wasn't ready! Or better my pc wasn't ready. But right now it's all perfectly fine, and ready to be uploaded on Well, there's not much to say about this chapter at all, I simply hope that you'll like it. Enjoy it!

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for correcting this, and for your sweet reviews.

**Just a Little Change**

As soon as Ron opened his eyes, his mind was invaded by two strong feelings that battled within him. Firstly, love; the love that he felt for Hermione was dangerously and exponentially rising every minute that he spent in that time. Second, guiltiness. He had not yet tried to lure Harry into some place all alone. He knew that he and his younger self were preparing things for leaving on the quest for the Horcruxes, but when he saw him, he didn't do anything but think constantly about Hermione.

He spent every moment of his day with her, watching her while she read, talking to her, telling her stories. He could have gone on living just with the sight of her face in front of his eyes. Extraordinarily, he was terribly intrigued by all the things that she told him, as if it was the first time that he'd heard them.

He stood up from the bed and took off the chain with the crystal from his neck. He held it for a while in his hands and shook his head; then, very cautiously, he placed it on the bedside table. What was the point on having that weight constantly around his neck?

He dressed quickly and climbed down the stairs, hoping to find Hermione in the garden--maybe reading or doing some of the homework that, he knew, she would have never given to any professor.

"Good morning, Robert, do you want some breakfast?" asked Mrs. Weasley as he passed by the kitchen.

"No, thank you, mu-Molly," he said hastily, walking out of the front door. When was the last time that he had refused to have breakfast? He thought that it had never happened. Maybe for some days after the war he had rejected all food, but that was different; at that time he just wanted to die. Now that he felt extremely well and healthy, he couldn't understand why he didn't feel like eating.

Hermione sat on a chair, with her legs crossed and a book on her lap. She was wearing a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts, and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was reading and trying to get a tan at the same time. Most of the table and some of the chairs around her were full of her books.

"Hi Hermione," said Ron, smiling brightly.

She raised her head and looked at him, smiling as well. "Hi Robert," she said enthusiastically. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, did you?"

Hermione nodded.

"May I sit down with you?" he asked.

"Sure," she answered, tossing her books from one chair to another.

Ron sat down and smiled again. "What are you reading?"

"The book that you suggested. It's very interesting," she said, showing him the cover.

"I'm happy that you like it."

Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but at that very moment a very sleepy seventeen-year-old Ron exited from the door and greeted them with a huge yawn, showing the remains of his breakfast in his esophagus.

"Good morning to you too, Ron," said Hermione, annoyed.

"What are you doing?" he asked her, peeking at her book. "Let me guess, reading."

"Good, Ron," she said as if she was talking to a child. "Do you want me to teach you reading as well?"

The older Ron couldn't help grinning, and the younger one looked at him. "She's a stubborn Know-It-All, isn't she?"

Ron bit his bottom lip and seemed to restrain himself from yelling at his younger self. Was he really that annoying when he was young? "I don't think she is," he said calmly. "I think she's a very intelligent and beautiful girl."

Hermione blushed so deeply that he thought that she would set herself on fire in a few seconds.

The younger Ron looked at him resentfully. "Beautiful?" he asked in a deadly tone.

"Yes, why? Don't you think she is?" he asked calmly.

Hermione glanced up at her friend, but the younger Ron didn't look at her--he was too busy staring at his own hands. Ron knew what was going on in the mind of his younger self. If he said 'yes' he would have been too embarrassed to talk to Hermione in the next fifty years, or better in the next three months, since that was what remained her; and if he said 'no' Hermione would have been too angry with him to talk to him again. He found all this very amusing; he didn't know why, but he liked to get himself in trouble. Was he becoming a self-harmer?

"Ron?" asked Hermione. "You all right?"

The younger Ron glanced at her and stood up. "I better go and wake Harry. Do you believe that he's still sleeping?"

"Really? I thought I saw him in the kitchen this morning when…" her voice trailed off since he was already gone. She sighed and lowered her eyes.

Ron looked at her. Everybody was right when they told him that he was impossible. He felt bad at the only thought that he had to agree with Ginny when he would have been back into his time. "That boy," he started awkwardly. "He's not very nice, is he?"

Hermione looked at him and for the first time, she couldn't find anything to say. She shook her head fiercely and Ron felt himself dying.

"He isn't?" he stated in a high tone of voice.

Hermione's eyes became huge. "No, no," she said hastily. "He is."

Ron felt his heart becoming so light that it almost ached. How could she say something like that if he was so mean with her? And why was he so mean at all? "Really?" he asked.

"Yes, he's one of my best friends. I simply can't picture my life without him – or Harry," she added quickly.

"He-he's only that?" asked Ron awkwardly.

"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, worriedly.

"I mean if he's just a friend for you," said Ron, trying to sound as calm and casual as he could.

"Yes," she said a little bit too quickly. "He won't ever see me in a different light."

"Hermione, I meant you," said Ron.

"What?" she asked puzzled.

"I wanted to know if he was just a friend for you, not vice versa."

Hermione bit her bottom lip. "Yes. No. I don't know," she said confused. "He hates my hair," she said incoherently.

"What?" asked Ron, as confused as she was.

Hermione shook her head and her long ponytail moved from side to side. "You know, I've thought about that," she said slowly. "He had a crush on a girl back in our fourth year and she had long blonde shiny hair, and then this year he had another-"

"Fleur is a Veela!" exclaimed Ron, without thinking. "He didn't know what he was doing and anyway now-" his voice died in his throat as he saw the surprised look that Hermione cast him.

"How did you know that I was talking about Fleur?" she asked.

"Ginny told me," he said, his voice an octave higher than usual.

Hermione looked at him, and Ron prayed that she would believe it. After all, Ginny never lost any occasion to talk about his disastrous crushes with everybody.

She nodded. "Yes, but Lavender isn't," she said bitterly. "You should have seen him back in December--they spent all their time eating off each other's faces." She shuddered. "It was revolting. And by the way, she has long blonde hair as well."

Ron smiled. "So you think he's attracted to blonde girls?"

"Indeed."

"Well, maybe it's not a matter of hair colour," said Ron, trying hard not to smile. "Maybe he's a little bit too shy."

"Shy?" snorted Hermione. "It took him less then ten minutes to stick his lips on Lavender's."

Ron blushed. "M-maybe he didn't like her the way he likes you. That's why it was so easy for him to stay with this Lavender." He remembered that more than once Ginny had told him that, in her opinion, he was too deeply in love with Hermione to be able to tell her his feelings. He thought that this was a stupid reason, but hadn't thought of anything better in the last thirteen years.

"Maybe," sentenced Hermione slowly, dragging him away from his thoughts about his sister. "Maybe he doesn't see me like a girl at all."

"Oh, no," said Ron quickly. "He does."

"Hermione!" Ginny was walking quickly towards them with a copy of a magazine in her hands. "Hi, Robert," she said cheerfully.

"Hi Ginny," he answered.

"Guess what Teen Witch Weekly says about hair this summer?" she asked, sitting down on a chair next to her, on her books.

"That blonde is better?" she demanded slowly.

"What?" asked Ginny. "No, that short hair is the trendiest thing this summer."

"Well, it's not a big deal, since it's summer and everybody wants to cut their hair," stated Hermione.

Ginny shrugged. "Well, I really hope that Fleur isn't going to cut her hair, because I am."

"Fleur would never cut her hair half a week before the wedding. She has to pull it back in the best hairdo that you will have ever seen," said Hermione matter-of-factly. "And who is going to cut your hair? Your mum?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, I was thinking about doing it all by myself."

Ron snorted. He didn't remember that Ginny had cut her hair; he would have definitely not wanted to miss that.

"I can cut your hair too, Hermione," she said eagerly.

Hermione looked at her and frowned. "Don't you like my hair right now?" she asked slowly.

Ginny shrugged. "Yes, but it's not trendy."

Hermione touched the curls in her ponytail and smiled. "And I should let you cut my hair? Am I looking so desperate?"

Ginny smiled. "Well, I'm not all that bad. You know, I think that Ron will finally notice you if you cut your hair."

Hermione and Ron gasped together. "What are you talking about?" asked Hermione.

Ron was looking at his sister with his eyes wide. If she knew that there was something going on between them, why hadn't she told him? 'As if she ever told me something about Hermione, when we were all together – and all alive,' he thought bitterly. 'I'll have to talk to her as soon as I'm back home.'

"Well, if he doesn't notice you now, you have to try something drastic," replied Ginny curtly.

Hermione blushed.

So it was because of him that she had cut her hair. "You know, I like your hair," said Ron hastily. "I like it a lot." He wanted to change that, to change the fact that she had cut her hair. Nobody would have ever noticed that she was so cute with long curls down her cheeks; he simply couldn't permit his sister to ruin her head for her experiments. "You know, Hermione. I think you are very good looking right now, with your long curly hair and everything," he continued.

Ginny looked at him scared, as if he was going to rape Hermione right in front of her eyes.

"Really?" asked Hermione, who had turned, if possible, even redder than before.

"Yes," he confirmed with a pleasant smile on his face. "You look beautiful, indeed." He stood up and walked inside of the house, leaving a blushing Hermione and a stunned Ginny outside.

As soon as Ginny thought that he was out of ear she looked at Hermione with her eyes huge. "He's strange," she whispered.

"Really?" said Hermione thoughtfully. "I think he's nice."

"Just because he keeps watching you, pretending to be interested into spew,-"

"S.P.E.W.," spelled Hermione. "And he's really interested."

Ginny ignored her. "-saying that you are beautiful, giving you advice about books."

"Well, he's just making conversation," she said stubbornly. "At least there's a Weasley that doesn't look at me as if I were a book myself."

"I don't look at you like you are a book yourself," said Ginny indignantly.

"I meant a Weasley boy."

Ginny sighed. "Life is long, Hermione. And I'm sure that Ron will notice you before you turn eighty."

Hermione smiled. "You know, I wouldn't be so sure about that, if I were you."

Ginny sighed again. "I think you're right; it is Ron who we are talking about." She looked Hermione and smiled. "So, fancy a haircut?" she asked eagerly.

At that very moment Harry and Ron walked out of the house. Harry seemed like he was going to say something, but he hadn't had the time to even opening his mouth.

"No, Robert likes my hair," she said, standing up, picking up her books and walking inside the house. "And I like it too." Ginny heard her say.

"Who's liking what here?" asked Ron, alarmed by the fact that Hermione has put in one sentence the words 'like' and 'Robert' and there wasn't any 'don't' within.

Ginny looked at her brother and smirked. "Well, Robert said that he likes Hermione's hair, and Hermione said that she likes her hair as well." She stopped for a moment, trying to think a painless way to say the rest, but she couldn't find one, so she just mentally shrugged. "But I think that what they really meant was that Hermione likes Robert and Robert likes Hermione."

Harry gulped loudly and looked at Ron, whose colour seemed to have drained away from his face; his freckles stood on his nose like red ink pools.

"Why?" he asked slowly.

"It's not exactly the right question, Ron," said Harry slowly.

Ron looked at him. "What?"

"That suits the situation better," said Ginny eagerly. "I said-"

"I know what you said," Ron cut her off. "How can you be so stupid? Hermione doesn't like someone like him, he's old and boring and-"

"-well mannered, intelligent, handsome and interested in what she does?" Ginny finished for him. She didn't really think all those things, but she wanted to make Ron jealous for Hermione. She was just helping.

"You think he's handsome?" asked Harry slowly.

"He has his charm," said Ginny vaguely.

"He's thirty years old!" yelled Ron.

Ginny shrugged. "Viktor was older as well. Maybe she has a taste for older wizards. Or maybe they just have to be more mature than you, Ron," she added and stormed off into the Burrow.

Ron looked at Harry. "You don't think that he's handsome, do you?"

Harry raised his eyebrows and shook his head. "But he's intelligent. I like him too."

Ron sat down on the chair that Ginny had just vacated, and shook his head bitterly. "Okay, everybody loves him except me. Is there something wrong with me?"

If Ginny would have been there she would have said something like, 'Yes, of course'. But luckily she wasn't, and Harry couldn't find anything better to say than, "Wanna play some Quidditch?", and to his great joy Ron's face brightened up as they walked to the broom shed.

---

"Remus!"

Ginny was sitting on a chair. Her hands rested on the table and cupped the crystal, her face was as white as snow and her bottom lip trembled.

"What?" asked Remus, walking through the door and entering the room.

"Look," she said, without taking her eyes away from the crystal.

Remus sat down across from her and bent on the table to have a better look of the gemstone. He stared at it intently, then lifted his head and looked at Ginny with concern. "I can't see anything different, Ginny, what-?"

"It's less shiny," she said hurriedly. "And less warm. What does this mean? Is he alright?" she asked, panic in her voice.

Remus looked at her and smiled in a reassuring way. "Maybe he has just taken it off for a while. You know, for taking a shower or things like that," he said.

Ginny didn't seem reassured. "And what happens if he forgets to wear it again?"

"Nothing, really, as long as he doesn't break it," said Remus. "He'll just have to wear it when he's ready to come back." He looked intently at Ginny and only at that very moment he noticed how tired she was, as if that crystal was sucking away her strength.

"Ginny, go to sleep. I can bear that crystal for you," he said gently, stretching out an arm towards her hands.

She pushed him away. "No," she said simply. "But if you want to do something for me, I'd like a glass of water."

Remus sighed and moved towards the cupboard, he opened it and paid lots of attention not to knock down Ron's box of pictures. But unfortunately, it was just above the glasses, and as he took one out, it fell on the floor, spreading pictures everywhere.

Remus sighed. "Can't Ron use another place for this box? Maybe under his bed. There's enough room for – Ginny?" He looked at her. She stood up and walked quickly towards the photos.

"Pick that up, Remus," she said almost hysterically, pointing towards the pictures.

Remus looked alarmed. "Which one?"

"The one with Hermione," she said quickly, her eyes wide.

"They are all with Hermione," answered Remus matter-of-factly.

Ginny fell on her knees and bent over on the pictures as much as her wide stomach permitted her. She picked up one picture with Hermione waving at the side of the Burrow and looked at it horrified.

"Ginny what-"

"Look at her, Remus," she screamed. "Look at her hair!"

Remus took the picture from Ginny's shaking hands and looked at it intently. "It's Hermione, and-"

"Her hair is long," she screamed. "I cut her hair the summer of Bill and Fleur's wedding. Her hair was short in this picture last week."

Remus looked from the picture to Ginny, worryingly.

"He's changing the past," she whispered. "I know he is."


	7. Broken Hearts and Broken Crystals

Disclaimer: Harry Potter & Co. belongs to J.K.R.

A/N: Well, another update, a rather quick one, too. Hope you'll like what's gonna happen in this chapter, it's a bit of shock, actually, or better, for me it was, but I like it. Well, if you want, let me know what do you think.

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for being so quick. And thanks a lot for all your help.

**Broken Hearts and Broken Crystals**

Ron had the sensation that he had been there his entire life. At the Burrow. With Hermione. With all his family. With the younger copy of himself. Expecting Bill and Fleur's wedding for all his life.

His mind seemed to have slowly removed the past thirteen years of his life, and now they were like a faded memory in his head, like a distant dream he couldn't entirely remember. But still, in the back of his mind, was the knowledge that he had to do something in the next two days--something that didn't concern the wedding at all.

He took the crystal into his hands, and it become warmer and shinier as he did. Instantly he remembered everything he had to do, but instead of feeling worry because there were only two days left, he felt annoyed and miserable. He didn't want to go back to the future.

Ron tossed the crystal back to the bedside table with hatred. Then he snapped his fingers, and the bedroom tidied. He stormed out the door, without any particular reason to be angry at all, except the fact that he didn't want to return to his true time.

On the stairs he met his mother, who was climbing up them with a pile of washed sheets. "Good morning, Robert," she said, panting. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thanks Molly. Do you need some help with those sheets?"

"No, thank you, I'm going to collect Ginny for some help." Ron grinned. "There are lots of people coming to the Burrow for the wedding in the next two days. Lots of work to do. If only Fleur was a little bit more useful," she added bitterly.

"Well, I think that she's all excited for her big day," he said, following his mother into the twins' bedroom.

"Yeah, well she could be more helpful, anyway," said Mrs. Weasley curtly. "Are you married, Robert?"

Ron looked at her, taken aback by the question. It was a little bit strange that in almost a week nobody had ever asked him about his private life, but he had never thought about what to say. Did Robert have a wife?

"No," he said slowly. "And I'm not engaged either," he answered, without understanding why he wanted to clarify that. "But my sister is pregnant."

"Oh, so you have a sister?" asked Mrs. Weasley, making up Bill's and Fleur's beds.

Ron nodded. "She's a year younger than me, but there's quite a lot of difference of age between her and her husband." He thought that his mother wouldn't have been happy to hear that his sister was having a child without being married, so he made up that little lie, reckoning that the story of them living in a place where there was nobody that could have married them was a little bit too long to tell.

"What's her name?"

Ron swallowed. "Therese." He said the first name that came to his mind.

"Nice name," said Mrs. Weasley sweetly.

"I know. Molly, do you know where Hermione is?" he asked casually.

Mrs. Weasley stopped what she was doing--a little bit of dusting on the brackets--and looked at him apprehensively. "Why?" she asked in a high-pitched voice.

Ron looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "I was just wondering," he said slowly.

"Well, Robert, dear," she started uneasily, "I don't think that you should spend all your time with Hermione."

Ron stared. It was like she had just hit him. "What?" he asked, desperately trying not to sound too rude. "Why not?"

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Robert, I know that are a very trustable man, and that you would never do anything reproachful, it's just that we were thinking that you spent all your time with her, and Ginny said that she's developing this sort of crush on you. But, naturally, Hermione's only seventeen and-"

"Crush?" he asked blankly.

Mrs. Weasley nodded. "Well, you know, Ginny and Hermione sleep in the same bedroom and stay up talking in the evening, even if I tell them to go straight to bed." She smiled faintly. "They never listen. But the fact is that Ginny told me that all she was taking about before going to sleep was Ron, and sometimes, Harry." Ron felt a hint of jealousy hit him. "But now, she keeps on taking about you," said Mrs. Weasley sighed deeply. "How good-looking you are, how nice and intelligent and all sort of things."

"Really?" asked Ron, astonished.

"Yes, well, my husband and I have thought about this and we wondered if you could talk to her. Make things clear that there'll never-" She looked at him and smiled. "Naturally she's a very intelligent girl and she's already understood that. But very likely she'll be destroyed when you leave. Which is in a couple of days," she pointed out.

"Destroyed?" asked Ron, as if he were living a dream.

"Well, maybe I've used too strong of a word. Let's just say that she will miss you a lot," said Mrs. Weasley thoughtfully.

"Miss me?"

Molly looked at him as if she thought that he wasn't as intelligent as she expected him to be after all. "Yes, I think that she has become fond of you."

"Fond of me?"

"Quit repeating what I'm saying," said Mrs. Weasley in a tone that Ron has never heard her use with strangers. She sighed another time. "I'm sorry, it's just that both Ron and Ginny keep on asking me to tell you this, because Hermione spends all her time with you."

"Maybe they're jealous; didn't that occur to you?" asked Ron hastily.

"Of course they're jealous," said Mrs. Weasley matter-of-factly. "Ginny keeps on telling me that Ron fancies Hermione, and she fancies him back, but luckily Ron is too blind to realizing it."

Ron definitely had to kill Ginny when he got back.

"And now Hermione is all fond of you, and naturally you are not as dumb as Ron about those things," she said, smiling.

Ron couldn't help smiling too. "I've been as dumb as him," he said.

"Well, but you aren't anymore, are you?"

"I think I'm not."

"Well, and since I'm sure that Hermione's feelings aren't returned by you, you should make it clear with her that-" she stopped for a moment and looked intently at his face. "Because you don't feel that way towards her, do you?" she asked worryingly.

Ron bit his bottom lip. "You're right, Molly; I better talk to her," he said slowly, without answering to her question. "Do you know where she is?"

Molly looked at him anxiously. "In her room I guess," she answered. "You can send Ginny here, if you want to talk to her alone."

Ron nodded and walked towards Ginny's room. Mrs. Weasley felt her apprehension growing, as he was so secure about what bedroom was the girls', or so she thought, since he hadn't asked for any direction. He knocked on the door.

"Come in," came the bored voice of Ginny.

Ron opened the door and found Ginny on her bed. She was playing with her Pigmy Puffs, with Crookshanks at the foot of her bed staring incessantly at the small pets. Hermione's back was to them, and she was writing something on a piece of parchment.

"Ginny, Mum, your mum, wants you to help her with the sheets," he said hastily.

Ginny looked up at him. "Which sheets?" she asked at the same moment Hermione turned her head towards him and smiled.

"The ones for the guests," he said, annoyed.

Ginny snorted. "Hermione, will you help-"

"Your mum said only you," answered Ron.

Ginny shot him a deadly glare. "See you later," she said to Hermione, and walked out of the bedroom. Ron, who hadn't moved from the door, closed it carefully.

"Are you studying?" he asked, walking towards her and sitting down on her bed.

Hermione smiled. "Yes, I'm having difficulty with these wand-less spells," she said.

"Well, they aren't all that hard if you concentrate a little bit. I can help you if you want," he said slowly.

Hermione's smiled became wider. "Really?"

Ron nodded. "What are you studying?"

"Summoning Charms," she said.

"Okay, let's say that you want collect-" He looked around the room. "-that pillow," he said, nodding towards Ginny's bed. "You have to stretch out your arm and think intensely about it in your hands and then-" The pillow flew into his arms instantaneously. "-it's easy, isn't it?"

Hermione looked at him with her mouth wide open. "How did you do it?"

Ron smiled. It was so unusual for him to be the object of her adoration. "Well, as I told you, you just have to concentrate and-"

"No, I meant, how did you do that without even saying, 'Accio'!" she exclaimed.

Ron looked at her. "Oh, well, that means that you're just studying wand-less spells, and not wand-less and word-less spell together," he said matter-of-factly.

"Indeed, and I heard that very few people are able to do them both at the same time," she said slowly. "Not even Voldemort."

Ron looked at her, impressed. He hadn't remembered that she could say You-Know-Who's name so easily. "Well, in fact, he can't. But from where I come, almost everybody is able to do them. We almost don't need wands anymore."

"You don't need wands?" asked Hermione, surprised. "You mean that Scotland is like that?"

Ron was taken aback. Scotland? He had forgot.

"Wait, Hogwarts is in Scotland as well," she said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, well, I didn't mean Scotland, or any school at all. I was just thinking about-" He looked around for any suggestion. "-the Order," he answered vaguely, when his eyes spotted a picture of Ginny.

"Order?"

"Yeah, well it's kind of secret. Let's say that we have a lot of work fighting the dark forces."

Hermione was even more admiring. "You must be very brave," she said, while her cheeks flushed.

Ron, unsure about what to answer her, shrugged. "Do you still want me to help you with the spell?" he asked, trying to change subject.

Hermione nodded. He threw the pillow back onto Ginny's bed and looked at her. "Remember, concentration."

She looked at the pillow as if it hid the secret of the universe inside of it, and stretched out an arm. "Accio!"

The pillow trembled a little, but it didn't fly.

Ron didn't seem too upset; the longer that session went on the better it was, because he could have stayed with Hermione even more time. "You have to imagine it in your arms," he said calmly.

Hermione nodded. "Accio!"

The pillow flew a little bit over the bed, but it fell rather quickly.

"I'm terrible," she stated, dropping her arm at her side.

Ron smiled. "You are not." He sat up and gestured Hermione to sit up as well. He circled her and, bending down, he seized her arm.

"Open you fingers wide," he said. "Good. Now stretch your hand towards the pillow; okay, you can use also your other hand if you want." Hermione stretched out both her arms.

"Accio!"

The pillow flew towards them, but at halfway it fell down. "Terrible and hopeless," stated Hermione bitterly.

"You are not," said Ron eagerly. "It took me days to even make something fly without my wand. You are doing great."

Hermione flushed. "Thanks," she mumbled.

Ron leaned down near her again and guided her hands towards the pillow for the second time. His mouth was near her ear as he said. "Concentrate, you know you can do that, Hermione."

Hermione nodded. She knew that she was able to concentrate pretty well, but somehow she simply couldn't at that very moment. Not with a man that was whispering in her ear and had his hands on her arms.

"Accio," she said weakly. Nothing happened.

"Hermione, are you alright?" he asked her, still holding her wrists.

Hermione nodded.

"Want to try another time?"

She nodded again.

Ron leaned a little bit closer to her. "On the count of three," he whispered into her ear.

"One-"

He removed his hands from her wrists and placed them on her shoulders; leaning his head on hers, he smelled her scent.

"-two-"

He felt Hermione shivering under his hands, and a strange heat was given off from her ears. Ron noticed that they were turning a bright magenta colour.

"-three."

"Accio!"

The pillow landed gracefully in Hermione's arms. She stared at it for a moment, then she turned, screaming, "I did it! I did it!" She threw her arms at Ron's neck and let the pillow fall.

Ron seemed to be taken aback by her reaction; then, without thinking at all about was he was doing, he kissed her. He closed his eyes, but for some reason he knew that Hermione hadn't. He felt her arms stiffen around his neck, and in less than a minute he knew that he had done something irreversible--she didn't kiss him back.

He released her hastily and looked worriedly into her eyes. "I-I'm sorry," he said, panicking.

Hermione brought a shaking hand to her lips and touched them, her eyes wide and her face pale.

"Hermione, are you alright? I didn't mean to-"

She nodded hastily. "I'm fine," she said in a bare whisper. "I'm fine."

Ron collapsed on her bed and buried his head in his hands. "I didn't mean to-"

He felt her hands on his head and looked up; meeting her eyes he understood that she didn't know what to do or say either.

"I'm fine," she repeated; then, totally unexpectedly, she closed her eyes and bent down to kiss him.

Ron looked at her and held his breath. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to be kissed by her. He had longed it for the first seventeen years of his life, and regretted he didn't do it for the remaining thirteen.

But he felt that he couldn't do it. He knew that it was so terribly wrong, even if it felt so terribly good.

He raised a finger and placed it on her lips, before she could catch his own. She opened her eyes and her cheeks started to burn. "I-I thought – I thought that you wanted-"

"I do," answered Ron frantically. "But I can't. Hermione I'm going to leave after the wedding and we'll never see each other again." He stopped and looked at her. "What am I talking about? We'll see each other, of course; we've done so many things together. Why didn't I notice how I felt for you earlier?"

Hermione looked at him quizzically. "What?"

He looked at her with such despair that Hermione was going to throw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.

"Sorry," he said, standing up and Disapparating without a noise.

He Apparated into Percy's room, collapsed on the bed, and picked up a pillow, into which he buried his face and let out a muffled scream of frustration.

When he felt a little bit better he glanced up at the room and his eyes fell on the crystal. He took it and watched as it became shiner and warmer at the contact of his skin.

He looked at it intently and said, "Diffindo."

The crystal broke into identical pieces, stopping glowing and giving off heat.

---

Ginny felt the crystal on her chest becoming cold all at once. She pulled the chain out of her dress and looked at the gemstone.

Even Remus, in another room, heard her scream, and knew that it meant nothing good. He hurried into the bedroom and found Ginny sitting on the bed looking, horrified, at the crystal.

"What?" asked Remus, coming nearer to her.

She raised her hand towards him and showed him the crack that had formed on the stone.

He looked at it, deadly pale. "The other crystal is broken," he whispered.

Ginny's eyes seemed huge on her worried face. "He won't be able to come back," she said in a shaky voice, and on the edge of the tears.

Remus shook his head. "No," he confirmed.

Ginny looked at Remus, and slowly the fear faded from her eyes and was replaced with resolution. When she spoke again her voice wasn't shaking anymore. "Prepare the circle, Remus. I'm going to get him back."

Remus looked at her and swallowed. "Ginny, you can't. You are-"

"I don't care. I'm going to get my brother back. Prepare the circle; you'll be my contact here."


	8. Even God Can't Change the Past

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of this story, and even the title of this chapter, since it belongs to Charlotte Church. That song is beautiful and I think it fits this story pretty well.

A/N: Well, I'm happy with this story, not for the plot or the characterization, but because I'm updating it quite regularly, aren't I? Well, first of all from now on start my favourite chapters, I like this one in particular, especially the dialogue towards the end, between Ron and Ginny; I had that dialogue in my mind even before I knew the plot. I hope you'll like it as well. Enjoy it!

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thank you so much for beta-reading this. You are really nice.

**Even God Can't Change the Past**

Ginny looked at Remus resolutely. She didn't want to listen to him at all.

"Ginny, I know that I'm not very different from the Remus that they all know, but you definitely can't afford that travel," he said, sounding a bit desperate and a bit firm. "Look, I can disguise myself."

"No," she said hastily. "No, I want to go and bring my brother back. And I need you to be my contact here."

Remus sighed and started to prepare another circle, or better said, he started to restore the old one in the middle of the room. Ginny stood next to him with the cracked crystal in her hands. She looked intently at it and the crystal broke in two identical pieces. Ginny placed the half with the chain around her neck and gave the other to Remus.

"Whatever happens, don't let it break," stated Remus seriously.

Ginny glared at him. She didn't mean to, but she was really nervous. "I'm not stupid," she hissed.

"Ron isn't stupid either, but his crystal broke as well," answered Remus calmly. Then, sighing deeply, added, "When do you want to go?"

"The day of Bill and Fleur's wedding," she answered promptly. "The Burrow was full of guests and nobody will notice me."

"Ginny, I'm sure that they'll notice you anyway," he said, looking at her stomach.

"Well, I'll invent something." She pointed at her hair. "I've the Weasley trademark, I can say that I'm a distant relative."

"When was that?"

"When was _what_?" she asked.

"The wedding. I can't remember," he said.

Ginny looked at him anxiously. "I told you when Ron left. The 22nd of July," she said.

"Right," he said slowly. He bent down and drew the date within the circle; then he raised his head and looked at her. "Are you not taking clothes with you?"

She shook her head. "I want to go there, find Ron, find Harry, and be back--don't need to talk to anybody nor to present myself to anybody."

"You have to pay attention, though."

"Why?" she said slowly. "Don't you think that I'll be able to do that?"

"You sound just like Ron," said Remus seriously.

Ginny bit her lip. "And you sound like me," she said. "Okay, I guess that I exaggerated – what am I talking about?" she added suddenly. "He's lost in the past without a way to come back home, naturally I've not exaggerated when I talked to him."

Remus looked at her sternly, in a sort of fatherly way more than lover. He didn't like it, but couldn't restrain it sometimes. "Naturally he didn't do that on purpose," he said. "That's why you have to pay attention."

"I'll pay attention," she replied.

Then Remus did something totally unexpected. He took a step towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders, then he pulled her towards him and kissed her fiercely. He felt her hands on his arms and then they slid up behind his neck. When he released her, he cupped her cheeks with his hands and leaned his forehead to hers. It wasn't in his nature to be so spontaneous; he usually controlled himself pretty well, but the thought of losing Ginny just how he had lost Tonks made his heart ache.

"I don't want to lose you," he whispered to her.

"You won't lose me," she answered with her eyes closed. "I'll be back before you'll be able to say 'Pigmy Puff'."

Remus looked at her and raised his eyebrows. "Why Pigmy Puff?" he asked.

"I don't know," she answered. "But do you know how many Pigmy Puffs I had?"

"No, why?" he asked, releasing her and backing away a little to have a better view of her pensive face.

"Because it's like I'm starting to believe that I had two, and not one. And its name was Liusbi, that's so stupid," she said, bringing a hand to her temple.

Remus bit his bottom lip in a very awkward way. "Maybe now you had two."

"What?" she asked, looking at him. "What do you mean?"

"That Ron has changed something else besides Hermione's hair," he said gravely.

Ginny took a deep breath and stepped inside the circle. "Better if I get moving," she said blankly. "I don't want him to destroy everything."

Remus offered his hand to her and she took it. Ginny squeezed it tightly. "I love you," she said hastily, feeling a strange sensation like euphoria and fear invading her.

"I know. I love you too," he answered. Then he lowered his eyes and started to mutter the same spell that he had used with Ron. Now it was his turn to feel Ginny's hand disappearing slowly from his grip; he tightened his hand around hers, but eventually he found himself with only his nails digging into his palm.

He stared at the circle, and the hand with the crystal tightened until his knuckles turned white.

Thirteen years earlier, Ginny landed gracefully in the living room of the Burrow. She glanced around and let out a relieved sigh. Nobody had seen her landing on the couch out of nowhere. She could have always said that she had Apparated, but people in that time used to make noise when they Apparated, and she hadn't.

"Who are you?"

Ginny turned so quickly that she felt her head buzzing a little. And when she found herself face to face with her younger self the buzz became even louder and more annoying.

She didn't speak for what seemed ages, and when finally the young Ginny screamed for her mum, she came to her senses.

"Where is he?" she asked forcefully.

"Where is who?" the young Ginny asked back. "Mum!"

"Ron!" cried Ginny. "Where is Ron?"

At that very moment Mrs. Weasley entered the living room from the kitchen, drying her hands on an apron. "What? Ginny what are you yelling for?" She stopped when she spotted the woman, visibly pregnant, standing in front of her. "Who are you?" she asked, though more gently than how Ginny had.

Ginny looked at her and felt her heart aching a little. Her mum was there in front of her like if she were still alive. And she was still alive. She would have thrown her arms around her, cried on her shoulder and waited for her to hug her until she couldn't breathe anymore. But she didn't do anything like that; she simply stood there, feeling her knees going dangerously weak.

"She said that she's looking for Ron."

The voice of the sixteen-year-old Ginny brought her back to reality.

"Yes," she said without recognizing her own voice.

"What did he do?" asked Molly, sighing. "Ron! Down here right now," she screamed towards the stairs.

A seventeen-year-old Ron climbed down lazily, with a shirt half-way closed on his chest, and Harry right behind him. "What?" he asked, jumping the last two stairs and landing next to his mother.

"This lady here says that she wants to see you. What did you do?" Mrs. Weasley asked firmly.

"Me? Nothing!" replied Ron indignantly.

Ginny took a step towards him and paled. "Not you! The old one," she said hastily, looking at Ron with something that they all thought was a hint of madness.

Mrs. Weasley placed her hands on Ron's shoulders in a very protective way and stammered, "I-I think I didn't quite catch you name, dear."

Ginny brought a hand to her temple. She felt the beginning of a huge headache coming.

"Maybe you want to sit down--in your condition I don't think that you should stress yourself too much. Are you here for the wedding, anyway?" she heard her mother saying.

Ginny looked at her. "Yes," she said hoarsely. "I'm looking for – for my brother."

Mrs. Weasley narrowed her eyes. "Oh my!" she exclaimed after a while. "You're pregnant and have red hair. Are you related to Robert, by any chance?"

Ginny looked at her and swallowed. "Why?"

"Because he said that he has a sister who's pregnant and-"

"Yes." Ginny had decided to try that chance and see if this Robert and her Ron were the same person. "Yes, where is he?"

"Oh, dear, I don't know," said Mrs. Weasley hastily. "I didn't know that you were coming, he didn't tell me anything."

"I wanted to surprise him," she said hastily.

"Well, I saw him this morning, but I don't know where he went," said Molly truthfully.

The young Ginny coughed something oddly similar to 'Hermione', and the older one turned to look at her.

"What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

Her younger self sighed. "I think that he might be with Hermione; they spend so much time together," she said, annoyed.

Ginny felt like she was going to be sick. "Where are they?" she asked in a deadly tone.

Harry cleared his throat. "I think they might have gone to the pond, you know Robert was helping her with some wand-less spells and – hey, what are you doing?"

Ginny looked at him and tightened the grip on his arm. Then she looked frantically around at the other people in the room and Disapparated with Harry alongside.

They Apparated near the pond outside. Ginny let go of Harry and tried to spot Ron near them.

"Hey, I don't like to Apparate," he said, with his hands on his knees.

"I know," said Ginny mechanically. "I'm sorry."

Harry glanced at her. "What did you bring me out here for, by the way? I don't know where they are," he said rather rudely.

Ginny looked at him distractedly. "Do you have your wand with you?"

Harry nodded.

"Good," she said, her eyes still wandering around. "Let's go." She seized Harry's arm, and for a moment he thought that she was going to Disapparate again, but she didn't. She just started to walk quickly towards the pond, dragging Harry with her.

"Hey," repeated Harry indignantly. "I've got to get ready for the wedding."

But Ginny wasn't even listening to him. She felt weaker every moment that passed and she was concentrated entirely on the search for Ron.

When she stopped abruptly, Harry had a hard time not bumping into her. "Listen, I can't remember very well--is there a place where Ron or Hermione liked to go near the pond?" she asked suddenly.

Harry's eyebrows raised. "Why?" he asked warily.

"Just answer," she snapped. "Please," she added.

Harry looked at her pale face and knew at once that she wasn't feeling very well. Her stomach was so wide, he really hoped that she wasn't going to give birth to her child right there.

"No, I don't – well, wait, Hermione likes to sit under a tree and read until it gets dark when we're playing Quidditch and-"

"Which tree?" asked Ginny. Her face was contracted in the effort of remembering, but it had all happened so long ago.

"It's a willow, it's on that side of the pond," said Harry, pointing towards the other side of the little lake.

Ginny turned her head quickly towards the pond and caught Harry's arm at the same time. Before Harry was able to tell her to let him go, they Disapparated another time.

When they Apparated near the tree, they heard Hermione shrieking. Ginny looked at her and then at Ron, who had jumped on his feet and stood between Ginny and Hermione protectively.

When Ron realized who he was looking at his jaw dropped open. He tried to yell, "No," but he didn't have the time because Ginny, with Harry's arm in her grip, threw herself towards Ron.

She felt the crystal against her skin and thought intensely about Remus and her time.

Harry looked at Hermione, and he saw her face paling; then he felt the ground disappearing underneath his feet and, without understanding that it was himself, he heard a cry.

When they landed on the cold stone floor of their house-bunker, Harry rolled away from them as Ginny let him go, and he landed rather badly on his elbows, while Ron and Ginny stood in the middle of the circle. When Ginny released Ron's arm, he collapsed on the floor.

"Oh my, are you all right?" asked Remus to nobody in particular.

Ginny felt her knees go weak and she kneeled down next to Ron, throwing her arms around his back and hugging him with all her strength.

She buried her face in his neck cavity and soaked his skin with her warm and salty tears. "Oh, Ron," she cried. "I was so scared. I thought that I would never see you again."

She let him go slowly when he didn't move, nor answer. She could feel his muscles tense under her hands.

"Ron?" she asked awkwardly, looking into his blank eyes.

"Why?" he whispered.

"Why – _what_?" asked Ginny.

"Why did you bring me back?"

Ginny looked at him and frowned.

"Ron, your crystal got broken, didn't you notice?" asked Remus calmly. "Ginny had to come to take you, or you would have been stuck there for ever."

"Ron," said Ginny, taking her hand from her mouth. "You could have stayed there forever; you wouldn't have ever been able to come back and-" Ginny's voice died in her throat as the painful truth hit her. "You broke it," she whispered.

Remus looked from her to Ron with his eyes wide. Apparently everybody had forgotten about Harry, who was looking at them with fear and confusion.

"Ginny, that's not possible, Ron would never do such a dangerous thing," said Remus firmly. "Tell her, Ron."

Ron lowered his eyes and stared at his hands, closing himself off in a stubborn silence.

Ginny saw Remus' eyes filling with surprise and incomprehension. "What? Why?" he asked.

"It's because of Hermione," said Ginny, glaring at Ron. "He still loves her."

Ron raised his eyes and glared back at Ginny, but didn't say anything. Then Ginny's eyes filled with tears, and she threw herself towards Ron another time, but this time it wasn't to hug him.

"You are a liar!" she screamed, hitting his chest with her fists. "You said. No, you swore that you weren't in love with her anymore."

Ron seized her wrists and stopped her blows. She raised her head as his grip tightened around them. Her tears dried on her face as her anger passed towards a new state.

Ginny gritted her teeth. "You swore," she hissed.

Ron looked at her with dark eyes. "I know. I lied," he hissed back, then released her wrists and pushed her a little bit backwards.

"You betrayed us. You betrayed our faith in you," she cried.

"As if you had any faith in me at all," he burst out. "You didn't even want me to go."

"And was I not right?" she asked sharply.

Ron narrowed his eyes as he looked at her.

"Hermione is dead," snapped Ginny. "Dead! You traded our lives with hers and she's dead."

Ron stepped towards her and seized her left upper arm with such strength that Ginny let out a little shriek. "_Now_ she's dead, but while I was there she was alive," he said.

"That was the past!"

"When I was there it was the present. And she was there." He let her go and stepped back, tottering a little.

"Look around!" snapped Ginny. "This is your time. This is your present. Can you see Hermione here?"

Ron felt his head aching.

"No, you can't," continued Ginny. "But I am here, and so is Remus. And you just wanted to see all us dead for staying with her."

"It would have been the same for you," Ron shot back.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"Ask yourself, Ginny, if you had to come back and pick Harry up, would you have done it or stayed there with Mum and Dad and all our brothers and Harry, the one that you have always loved so much?" he asked angrily.

"I have done it!" she said, nodding towards Harry.

Ron glanced at him. "I want to see how you'll be feeling towards him this week," he said to Ginny, and stormed out of the room into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Ginny looked at the door, and after a while she burst into tears. Remus hurried at her side and made her sit down.

"Ginny, give him some time," he said sweetly.

Ginny nodded.

Then Harry cleared his throat and they both turned towards him.

"Harry, I almost forgot that you were here," said Remus, walking towards him. "It's so nice to see-"

But before he could finish the sentence, Harry had his wand in his hand and, pointing it at Remus, he asked, "Who the hell are you?"


	9. Recollections and Explanations

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

A/N: Oh, I love this chapter. I really, really love this chapter. And I hope you'll like it too. Well, the real action will start soon, don't worry, but a bit of explanations are due to little Harry. Well, enjoy it!

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for your beta work, and thanks a lot for being so punctual with the chapters.

**Recollections and Explanations**

"Who the hell are you?" repeated Harry, his wand shaking a little in his hand.

Ginny let out a half sob, half laugh. "See, Remus? You weren't so recognizable, after all," she said.

Remus smiled. He stretched out an arm towards Harry, and his wand flew into Remus' hands. Harry widened his eyes. "Remus?" he croaked.

"Harry, I want you to sit down and listen to what we're going to tell you. It's very important," Remus said, smiling.

Harry's eyes shot from Remus to Ginny and then back to Remus. "What?" he asked.

"It's better if you sit down, really," echoed Ginny. She waved her hand and a chair appeared behind Harry, knocked him behind his knees and, as Harry collapsed on it, the chair moved quickly towards the table.

"Ginny, there's no need to be so rude," said Remus, stepping towards the table and sitting down across from Harry.

"Sorry, but I'm tired," she said, resting her head on her hands.

Harry looked at them speechless; he tried to move, but the chair was firmly against the table.

"Calm down, Harry," said Ginny sweetly. She stretched out an arm towards him and placed her hand on his. Harry took his away immediately.

Ginny smiled weakly. "Look, there's no need to be so scared, we-"

"I'm not scared," said Harry hastily. "I want to know who you are."

"Harry, don't you recognize us? It's me, Ginny."

For a moment Ginny thought that Harry was going to scream something very nasty, but when he spoke his voice was flat. "Ginny who?"

Ginny rolled her eyes. "Ginny Weasley. Ginevra Molly Weasley," she said, stressing each syllable.

Harry looked at her blankly. "No, you can't be Ginny. Ginny is younger than me."

"Yes, that's true. I'm a year younger than you. But we are in the present now, not in the past." Harry looked at her puzzled. "I mean we are in the future, I mean for you it's the future, for me it's the present and-" She turned towards Remus. "A little help, please, Remus."

"Harry, what Ginny is trying to tell you is that-"

"And who are you?" asked Harry hoarsely.

"Have you listened to our little discussion?" snapped Ginny.

Remus placed a hand on Ginny's shoulder. "Ginny, give him some time. Harry, I'm Remus, Remus Lupin."

Harry looked at him with his eyes wide. "P-professor Lupin?" he stammered.

"Yes, Harry," he said, smiling. "It's been quite a long time since anyone has called me professor, but it's me."

Harry paled so abruptly that both Ginny and Remus thought that he was going to faint.

"Harry, you all right, boy?" asked Remus concerned.

Harry didn't give sign to have heard him. "And who is Robert?" he asked.

"Robert?" asked Remus perplexed.

"I think he means Ron," explained Ginny. "Do you mean Ron?"

Harry looked at her blankly.

"Do you mean the boy with whom I was fighting earlier?" she asked.

Harry nodded slightly.

Ginny sighed. "Well, he's Ron."

"Ron who?"

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "There are three possibilities: you are being deliberately stupid, you want to annoy us until we use an Unforgivable Curse on you, or that time travel has damaged your brain irremediably."

Harry looked at her and swallowed.

"Or maybe he's just shocked," said Remus. "Harry, he's Ron. Your friend Ron. Ronald Weasley."

"That cannot be, Ron is the same-"

"Age as you, we know," snapped Ginny. "But we are in the future now!"

"How many?" whispered Harry.

"How many _what_?" asked Ginny.

"How many years in the future?"

Ginny sighed. "Thirteen."

Harry seemed to be counting something under his breath. "So you are twenty-nine years old and Ron is thirty," said Harry slowly. "And you?" he asked to Remus.

"I'm old enough," he answered, smiling.

Harry nodded. "What is this place?" he asked, looking around.

Ginny flushed. "It's home. Our home," she said miserably.

"It looks like a cave," said Harry.

"We're under the ground," she said slowly.

"Why?"

Ginny and Remus exchanged a look. "We're going to tell you everything, Harry. But you have to promise us to be quiet and listen carefully," said Remus seriously.

Harry bit his bottom lip and nodded. "Wait, I've another question before you start. Why did you bring me here?" His eyes darted from Ginny to Remus.

"Because we need you," said Ginny calmly. "Now be quiet, we are going to tell you everything."

Harry had to swallow all the other hundreds of questions burning in his throat, because Remus started to speak.

"Well, Harry. As we've already told you, we are in the future; or rather, for you it's the future, for us it's the present. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded.

"Good. We live in a place like this," Remus' hand gestured around the room. "Because Voldemort has won the war."

Harry felt his heart skipping a beat. "Did he?" he asked without recognizing his own voice

Remus nodded gravely. "Yes, it happened thirteen years ago."

"Thirteen years ago? You mean the same year in which you picked me up?" he asked.

"Yes," said Remus. "That year."

"How?"

Ginny sighed. "Well, Harry, do you remember when you were staying at the Burrow for Bill and Fleur's wedding?"

Harry looked at her thoughtfully. "I was still at the Burrow for their wedding."

"Right," she said hastily. "Well, what were you doing at the Burrow? I mean what were you doing with Ron and Hermione?"

"With Hermione not much, since she's always with Robert," he said matter-of-factly.

Ginny looked at Remus. "This won't change the future, will it? I mean the fact that Hermione didn't help them with the plan," she asked urgently.

"I don't know," he answered truthfully.

"Well, but with Ron? You were trying to plan your escape from the Burrow and the quest for the Horcruxes, weren't you?" she said hopefully.

Harry nodded. "Yeah, we are."

Ginny sighed in relief. "And you think that nothing will prevent you from finding every single Horcrux and finally defeating Voldemort, right?"

Harry nodded rather uneasily.

"And do you know what the adults think?" asked Ginny.

"Maybe that we'll never be able to do something like that," he said bitterly.

Ginny shook her head. "They think that a stupid attempt like yours to defeat the greatest Dark Lord of all the times is a kind of joke."

"I bet it's Scrimgeour that-"

"Yes it was him, but both of you were wrong," said Remus, interrupting Harry. "Harry, you didn't defeat Voldemort, but neither was your attempt a joke."

"What happened?" Harry asked hoarsely.

"When you, Hermione and Ron disappeared, Mrs. Weasley alerted the Ministry, and a mass of wizards and witches were sent after you; let's say that that disturbed a little the secrecy of your mission." Remus sighed deeply. "And when Voldemort noticed that there were so many people that threatened his Horcruxes, he started what now we call the Second War."

Harry looked horrified. "A-and he won?"

Ginny nodded. "Yes, he did."

"And people died?" asked Harry, fearing the answer.

"Harry, people always die in war," stated Remus.

"Somebody I know?" he asked hastily. Then something seemed to hit him. "Where am I?"

Ginny looked at Remus and then back at Harry. "Harry, we have already told you, you are-"

"Not me," he said hastily. "My other me."

"You mean your thirty-year-old self?" asked Remus.

Harry nodded.

"There isn't a thirty-year-old Harry in this time," said Remus slowly. "Harry, you were one of the victims of the war."

Harry turned alternatively white and green for a couple of minutes. He opened his mouth, but it was as if his voice had failed him. He looked at Ginny and Remus, hoping to see them scream 'surprise' at any time, but that never happened.

"Harry?" Ginny's voice seemed million light years from him. "Are you okay?"

Harry looked at her without really seeing her. His vision blurred as if Dementors have just attacked him. He really hoped that he wasn't going to pass out.

Then he felt a hand on his own and felt an incredible warmth spread from his fingers to every single limb of his body. He raised his head and looked at Remus, who was leaning on the table and smiling warmly. "Is it better?" he asked, letting Harry's hand go.

Harry nodded. "What did you do?"

Remus looked at him surprised. "I used the 'Ennervate' spell; I thought that you'd studied it in sixth year."

Harry stared at him. "But you didn't say anything, and you didn't use your wand."

Remus nodded. "I know."

"How did you-?"

"Harry, now is not the time. Wait a little, there are still lots of things to explain to you," said Remus gently.

That seemed to bring Harry back to reality: he had just been told that he was going to die before the end of the year.

"Has anybody else died?" he croaked.

"Lots of people, Harry," answered Remus gravely.

"I mean, someone that I know."

Remus and Ginny glanced at each other. "Actually, yes," said Remus.

"Who?" asked Harry urgently.

Ginny swallowed. "Hermione."

Harry leaned on the back of the chair and pressed his shoulder blade towards it, almost painfully. "Someone else?" he asked with his eyes shut.

"Yes, all the Weasleys except for Ron and Ginny," answered Remus. "Tonks, Professor McGonagall, some of Hogwarts pupils, Fleur-"

"Who?" asked Harry, his eyes always shut.

"Fleur," repeated Remus.

"No, I meant, who are the Hogwarts pupils that died," he asked.

"Dean Thomas," he heard Ginny answer, "Seamus Finnigan, Hannah Abbott, Padma Patil, Cho Chang, Dennis Creevey, Luna Lovegood, Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, Romilda-"

"Stop," said Harry weakly. "Stop it, please."

Ginny stopped and looked at her hands.

"Has anyone survived the war?" he asked in a deadly tone of voice.

"Actually, yes, Harry," said Ginny quickly. "Not a lot of people, but some have."

"And where are they?" he asked, opening an eye.

Ginny sighed. "Harry, when the war was over and Voldemort became the only ruler of the Wizarding world, the ones that stood against him had very few possibilities. Some of them left England, some joined him and some others – like us – created something like a resistance against him."

Harry opened his other eye and stared at her.

"But we have to live under the ground, because outside it's all under his control," said Ginny. "Only here we can live without being constantly hunted by the Death Eaters."

"Why don't they find you here?"

"Because these galleries are unplottable. We found them only because there was a map in the Minister's office. It was meant to be an escape for the Minister if things started to go bad. We think that Fudge had them built," explained Ginny. "Now, we live like caged mice," she added bitterly.

Harry looked at her with huge eyes filled with fear and pain. "B-but I still don't get why you brought me here," he stammered.

Ginny sat up with difficulty and walked towards the cupboard. Harry stared at her wide belly. "You're pregnant," he whispered.

Ginny pulled out a piece of parchment from a drawer, turned towards him and smiled. "Well spotted, Harry," she said cheerfully.

"And who is the _father_?" he asked, fearing the answer.

Ginny flushed and Remus turned quite pink too. "It's Remus, Harry."

Harry glanced at Remus and his jaw dropped. "You mean that – you mean that you two-" he stammered, pointing from Ginny to Remus.

"Well, Harry, there aren't many people left. And it's been more than ten years since I've heard of a child being born--ours will be the first. It's an event," she said, trying to sound calm. Then, without waiting for him to answer, she shoved the piece of parchment that she had just picked up towards him.

"What is it?" asked Harry, staring at the words without reading.

"The motive for bringing you here," said Remus encouragingly. "Come on, read it."

Harry glanced up at them another time before turning his attention to the parchment. He read the prophecy and when he finished, he read it again, and then again.

"Does it mean me?" he asked finally.

"Very likely," said Remus.

"Very likely? Aren't you sure?" asked Harry slowly.

"Of course it's you Harry," said Ginny heartily. "Who else could it be?" She took the parchment from his hands. "_The last day of the seventh month_ – the 31st of July, Harry, your birthday – _Will be brought here_ – what do you think? We have brought you here from the past. – _His power will be love_ – wasn't that what Dumbledore kept on repeating?"

Harry looked startled. "But I can't – I'm not – I don't even know what to do," he said stiffly.

"That's why we brought you here a little bit earlier than the 31st of July. We have to understand what you can do and how," said Ginny sweetly.

"What do you mean?" asked Harry.

"We'll help you developing your powers," said Remus.

"What?" asked Harry, every minute more confused.

"Look," said Ginny. She waved a hand and a flower grew up from the wood of the table.

Harry looked at it amazed. "How did you do that?" he asked.

Ginny closed her fist and the flower withered and disappeared.

"Harry," started Remus, "In the past thirteen years we've had to develop different and most potent powers, because we were daily threatened by the Death Eaters and Voldemort."

"Something like adaptation," stated Harry.

"Yes, let's say adaptation and struggle for survival," said Remus, smiling.

"What can you do?" asked Harry, half-admiring and half-afraid.

"Well, lots of things. We do wand-less magic and word-less spells in combination; actually, we don't need a wand anymore," he said slowly. "And we don't make any noise when we do a spell or when we Apparate."

Harry seemed impressed. "And the Death Eaters? Can they do that?"

Ginny shook her head. "No, they can't. They have never wasted their time learning this advanced magic; they feel safe with Voldemort and don't need these 'tricks', as they called them."

"And you'll teach me that?" asked Harry hopefully.

"I think we'll have to," said Remus, smiling.

"And you'll learn with the best person that can do these things," said Ginny.

"You?" asked Harry.

Ginny shook her head. "Ron," she said slowly. "If he agrees," she added, and an awkward silent fell between them.

Ron's voice reached them like a muffled yell. "I agree," he shouted from the other room.

Ginny swallowed. "Well, I guess that now everything's alright," she said stiffly. "Better if we go to bed, isn't it? I'm tired."

"But, we don't even know if it's day or night," said Harry.

"It's night," stated Remus. "After living underground for a while you start to feel it inside you," he added, answering to Harry's unexpressed question.

Harry nodded; the chair where he sat backed a little and let him sit up; Ginny conjured a bed for him and wished him goodnight, like a mother, and then they all fell asleep. All but Ron, who, from his bed, was glaring at Harry.


	10. Training the Chosen One

Disclaimer: So not mine!

A/N: Well, I don't have much to say here. Sorry. Let's say that these chapters are much better than the first ones in my opinion. I love the way Harry and Ron talk to each other, and in the next chapter there's going to be a lovely character… Enjoy this chappie in the meantime!

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for your help with this chapter.

**Training the Chosen-One**

"Wake up!"

Harry opened his eyes and stared at the face in front of him without being able to see anything. He looked for his glasses on the floor, where he'd left them the evening before, and put them on hastily.

A red-haired man who appeared to be in his thirties was staring at him. "W-what's happening?" asked Harry sleepily.

"Oh, please," said Ron, annoyed. "Don't tell me that you've already forgotten everything they told you last night," he added, glancing at the bed where Remus and Ginny still lay sleeping.

Harry looked at them too, and an invisible fist hit his stomach. "No, I remember," he said bitterly.

"Good, because I didn't want to repeat all those things to you," Ron said, walking out of the door into the other room.

Harry stood up and walked after him. He sat at the table and stared at Ron as he boiled water for the tea.

"We don't have much to eat," he said without turning his head. "I hope that tea is fine with you, and I can conjure some toast if you are really hungry."

"Thank you," said Harry slowly.

Ron nodded; then, he turned and sat down across from Harry, staring at his own hands. "So they want me to teach you, right?" he asked. "That's funny, isn't it? Me, Ronald Weasley, has to teach magic to the great Harry Potter. Don't you think it's funny?"

Harry looked at him and swallowed. This Ron was so different from the one that he knew; he could only imagine what kind of terrible things he must have gone through to become so cold towards him. "No," he answered.

"No, you don't think that it's funny?" asked Ron.

"No, I don't think so," he said hastily.

Ron raised his eyes and met Harry's; then, his eyes slid down his figure. "You know, I didn't remember that you were so short," he said. "And, by the way, what are you wearing?"

Harry looked down and, ignoring the fact that Ron has just told him that he was short, he smiled. "Well, it's my outfit for the wedding." He wore a shirt and black trousers.

"I think that you should wear something else, something right for the situation," said Ron seriously.

"Si-situation?"

Ron snapped his fingers and Harry's clothes changed into a tee-shirt and a pair of jeans. "Here you are," he said flatly.

"Y-you are very good," said Harry.

Ron smiled for a second, but then he turned serious. "It's just a matter of concentration and training."

The kettle started to whistle and Ron sat up and picked it up, extinguishing the fire. He poured some water into a couple of cups and gave one to Harry. Then he waved his hand, and some toast appeared in front of them.

"Why didn't you use magic to make the tea appear?" asked Harry as he bit into his toast.

Ron shrugged. "When you constantly use magic, it's nice to do things by yourself sometimes," he said slowly.

Harry sighed. "You are so different from the Ron I know."

"Am I better or worse?" asked Ron, trying to sound casual, but without being completely able to hide a note of anxiety in his voice.

Harry shook his head. "Not better or worse; just different," he said matter-of-factly.

Ron smirked. "I thought you would have said that I was worse," he said.

Harry gaped at him. "Why?" he asked.

"Because I'm not exactly friendly right now," he said, staring at his cup of tea and tapping it with his fingers.

Harry lowered his eyes as well. "Well, you aren't exactly friendly, no," he admitted. "But I guess that it's what you have been through during the last thirteen years that has changed you."

Ron laughed nervously. "Really?" he asked amused. "Nice explanation, Mr. Potter."

Harry swallowed. "Well, it's not that?"

Ron shook his head forcefully. "No! Well, let's say that that helped, but that's not exactly it."

Harry looked at him quizzically. "What is it then?"

"I'm angry," he said slowly.

"With me?" asked Harry, half-curious and half-annoyed.

Ron looked at him and raised his eyebrows. "Not exactly, well, yes. But not only with you." He sipped some of his tea. "I'm angry with everybody; with me, in the first place, and then with Ginny, Remus, Hermione, you – You-Know-Who, Malfoy-"

"Malfoy?" Harry cut him off. "Is he still alive?"

Ron nodded nonchalantly. "Yes, why?"

"I thought that Voldemort would have killed him; you know, because of his attempt to murder Dumbledore that was a complete disaster," said Harry matter-of-factly.

Ron nodded. "Well, he's alive. You-Know-Who didn't kill him, but not because he didn't want to, just because he ran away before he could have the chance."

"And where is he?"

"He lives in one of the galleries."

"And why are you angry with him?"

Ron glared at him. "Bloody hell, Harry. I didn't remember that you were so annoying," he snapped.

"Sorry," said Harry, without sounding sorry at all. "Why then?"

"Okay, I'm not angry with him, I was just making a list and it felt incomplete without the man that I love to hate," he said slowly.

"Oh," said Harry. "Then, why are you angry with you?"

Ron sighed. "For so many reasons that there's no time right now to tell you. Firstly, we have to start the training." He sat up and vanished the cups. Harry protested because he had not yet finished his tea, but Ron ignored him. Ron moved towards the middle of the room, where once stood the sand circle. "Come on," he said, gesturing for Harry to move.

"What is this training about, exactly?" Harry asked, standing in front of Ron.

"Well, you'll have to learn in less than ten days what we learned in thirteen years," he said gleefully. "But you are Harry Potter, right? You can do that."

Harry swallowed hard. "Yeah, well, I'm not sure."

"Don't worry Harry, it's not as hard as playing Wizards Chess," said Ron, blinking, and for a moment Harry felt that who stood in front of him was really his best friend.

"First of all, give me your wand. You won't need it," said Ron, and without waiting for Harry to pull it out of his pocket and give it to him, he summoned it with his hand.

"Now, remember, concentration," said Ron calmly. "Concentration is the key to everything."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Just concentration?" he asked.

"Concentration and then determination," said Ron.

"Oh, something like Determination, Destination and Deliberation?" asked Harry.

"What?"

"It's what they taught us during the Apparition lessons," explained Harry.

"Oh, yes," said Ron, remembering. "No, yes, I don't know. I just know that you really have to concentrate, okay?"

Harry nodded. He closed his eyes, but opened them almost immediately. "What do I have to concentrate on?" he asked.

Ron closed his eyes. "On what you want to have. Look around yourself; what do you see?"

Harry's eyes wandered around the room. "There's a table, a cupboard, some chairs, a box, plates, glasses-"

Ron's eyes popped open. "Okay, nothing that you'll be able to summon that can break or cause damage to yourself," he said, and gesturing with his hand he made a pillow appear in his arms.

"Concentrate on this," he said, holding it in front of Harry.

Harry looked at the pillow as if it held the answers to all his questions. He stared at it until his face turned red all over and wrinkles appeared on his forehead.

Ron smiled. "Very good, Harry. You have a very high level of concentration."

Harry looked at him and couldn't tell if he was serious or not.

"Now, let's try something new. Imagine this pillow in your arms."

Harry nodded and turned almost purple. He stretched out his arms involuntary and as he did so he also took a step towards Ron.

"You are not supposed to go towards the pillow, Harry. It's the pillow that has to go towards you," he said.

Harry turned, if possible, even more red. He stepped back, but stretched out his arms even more. After a while, Harry took a deep breath, realizing at that very moment that he had held his breath.

"I can't," he said. "I can't do that."

"Do you think that it took me fifteen minutes to perform this kind of magic?" asked Ron firmly.

Harry looked at him, and in moment knew that Ron believed in him more than he himself did.

"It took me several years to be able to do this," said Ron. "But of course, I didn't have anybody to help me, and I didn't even know if I was able to do them. I was just experimenting. But you, Harry, all you have to do is follow my instruction and never, I repeat _never_, say that you can't do something, okay?"

Harry looked at Ron with such amazement that for a second he forgot everything he knew.

"Okay, Harry?" repeated Ron.

Harry nodded. "Okay."

"Let's try again, then."

Harry concentrated another time, and still nothing happened. But this time he didn't say that he wasn't able to do it, he just turned his attention towards the pillow without waiting for Ron to tell him.

They continued to try for what seemed ages, until Ginny and Remus entered the room and interrupted the lesson.

"Well, I never thought I would see something like this," said Ginny, walking inside the room and smiling. "Ron trying to teach Harry something."

"If I'm not wrong, it was you that suggested that I should've taught him," said Ron, glaring at his sister. "Who was saying that I'm the most brilliant wizard that has ever walked this Earth?" asked Ron.

"Well, sorry Ron, but it wasn't me. I only said the best person that can do these things," said Ginny, yawning.

"I was just paraphrasing," said Ron, smirking.

"It's nice to see that you two have made up already," said Remus, sitting down at the table.

Harry looked at him questioningly. 'Made up?' he thought.

"Yes, Harry, made up. You have to see them when they're fighting," stated Remus.

Harry looked surprised. "Can you also read minds?" he asked surprised.

"Actually, we can. Didn't Ron tell you that?" asked Remus. "But I didn't read in your mind; it was rather clear what you were thinking."

"Will I learn to read minds as well?" asked Harry, excited.

Remus glanced at Ron, who shook his head slightly. "I don't think that you'll have the time to learn it. As good as you can be, it takes more than a week to learn that," said Remus. "But you don't have to worry about that, since we can both read your mind and talk to you through thoughts if it's necessary."

Harry couldn't find anything to say that it wasn't 'wow', and he didn't want to sound too childish in front of his grown-up friends. So, he just opened his mouth like a goldfish and stared at them.

"Well," said Ginny sweetly. "Continue what you were doing. We'll be here, watching you quietly."

Ron chuckled. "Oh yes, of course. Don't you have to do something--like cleaning up the house, Ginny?"

Ginny looked at him, amused. "You know, Ron, you really are heartless, asking a pregnant woman like me to do the cleaning. But if you really insist…" She snapped her fingers and a little wind started to blow. In less then ten minutes the house was shining. "Happy?" she asked as a mug of milk appeared on the table after she waved her hand.

Ron snorted, but didn't say anything.

"Hey, you said that there was nothing other than tea and toast," said Harry, glancing at the mug Ginny was holding in her hands.

"Yeah, well, you have to stay light," he said rudely. "Although, how will you be able to concentrate if you are dozing off because you ate a bottle of milk and a pack of cookies?"

Harry raised his eyebrows and thought that he was right.

"Can we go on now?" Ron asked.

Harry nodded. "Okay."

Harry didn't know for how long he had gone on trying to summon that pillow into his hands; all he knew was that his legs started to hurt and his head was even beyond pain. Ron, on the other hand, seemed calm and patient like he had never seen him. He just kept on saying, "Concentrate, Harry. Imagine the pillow in your hands," and then smiled, but he never screamed at him, even if sometimes Harry would have done it himself. Ginny and Remus sat at the table, apparently deep in conversation. Harry understood things like 'Voldemort', 'few days' and 'lots to do'.

"I think that it's enough for today, Ron," said Remus after what seemed ages. "We didn't expect you to do it today, Harry," he said encouragingly.

"Yeah," said Harry, walking towards the table. "But I bet you did expect something, at least."

"Well, Harry," said Ron, making the pillow disappear. "You know, it trembled a little in my hands the last few times that you tried the spell."

"Maybe it was you that was getting nervous," said Harry bitterly.

"I'm not nervous," said Ron, smiling. "And I'm not stupid. I know when I'm doing magic and when I'm not. And that was definitely you."

Harry looked at him and smiled a little. "Really?"

Ron nodded.

"That makes me feel better," said Harry. "At least I've not wasted an entire day. So what it's going to be – what is it? Lunch or dinner?"

"Let's call it 'lunner', because it's afternoon," said Ginny thoughtfully.

"Maybe there's a word for that, Ginny," said Remus gently. "What do you think of break?"

"I was trying to be funny," said Ginny, snorting.

"Well, you were never a success in that, were you?" asked Ron mockingly.

Harry chuckled and Ginny glared at them both. "If you two don't stop right now, I'm going to snog Remus right in front of you," she said threateningly.

Harry and Ron stopped at once to laugh and looked horrified. Ginny smirked and Remus blushed.

"Anyway, Harry, what do you want to eat?" She looked at his forehead and smiled. "Done," she said, snapping her fingers.

"But that's Mum's soup," said Ron, looking at the plate that lay in front of Harry.

Harry nodded. "I love it. But, did you read my mind?" he asked to Ginny.

"Just a little bit," she said, blinking.

"It's annoying when she does that, isn't it?" said Ron.

"No, well, not really," said Harry shyly.

"I can't stand it. And I thought that you would have stood it even less, since it's almost like Legilimency," he said matter-of-factly.

"It's not like Legilimency," pointed out Ginny. "I don't wander between Harry's thoughts."

"Yes, you do," replied Ron dryly.

Remus sighed deeply. "How could you bear those two, Harry? Were they always bickering when they were younger, too? Or is it just the forced cohabitation?"

Harry couldn't help laughing. "Well, they were like this even-" He stopped abruptly. "What am I saying? They _are_ like this."

Ginny glanced at Ron, who stared back at her. "Yeah, well enough verb tense practice for today," said Ron. "Let's eat and then let's go to bed."

"Bed? But you said that it's afternoon," stated Harry.

"Yeah, well, there's nobody here that can tell you if it is or it isn't time to go to bed," said Ron, "not even the sun. And you are tired, Harry, you need to rest."

For some reason at that very moment, Harry was reminded of Sirius; this Ron was much more like a fatherly figure rather than a friend.

"You're right," said Harry, standing up. "I'm going to bed."

"Hey, aren't you going to finish your soup first?" asked Ron, smiling.

"No, thanks. I'm not all that hungry," he said, walking towards the bedroom and closing the door behind him.

Ron looked at Remus, puzzled. "What did I say?"


	11. Talks, and an Unexpected Visit

Disclaimer: Would love to own the Potter-verse, but unluckily, I don't.

A/N: I like this chapter, I like it quite a lot, especially because there's one of my favourite characters. Anyway, well, I really hope that you'll like it too. Next one will be more adventurous, I swear. In the meantime, I wish to all my readers a Happy Christmas!

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for your help with this chapter. And thanks for all your sweet comments.

**Talks, and an Unexpected Visit**

The first thing that Harry learned during his stay in the future was that the people really had little to do. Ginny, of course, was pregnant, so she couldn't do much at all, but Harry had thought that maybe professor Lupin would have something to do. But, on the contrary, he seemed to spend all day watching him and Ron practicing. Ron, too, seemed to have nothing else to do than teach him.

He had managed to summon the pillow ever since the second day of training, but he had to mutter 'Accio' under his breath for it to happen. Ron was quite pleased with him, but he wasn't really lavish with praise.

The days seemed to fly by. They woke up, Harry was told that it was morning, though he couldn't have really known, and then practiced all day long. Nobody seemed to get tired looking at him while he stared at the pillows, or tried to make a stone appear in his hand from nowhere, or Transfigured a glass into a bird and vice versa.

Harry had concentrated so much during week that he was thinking that if he had to concentrate even a little bit more, he was going to explode from all the energy that he had accumulated—but the day before the mission he found a way to release all that power.

"I can't do that, Ron!"

Harry looked at Ron, his arms crossed on his chest, his muscles tense. They were alone in the bunker-house. Ginny and Ron had Apparated to some of the other galleries to let everybody know what was going on. Harry stood in front of Ron, in the middle of the room.

Ron looked back at him and sighed. "Harry, we have already talked about that. You can do anything, as long as you believe it," he said patiently.

Harry shook his head forcefully. "No, I can't. How am I supposed to move that table with just the power of my mind?"

"Exactly like you made the pillow fly into your arms, or you made the gemstones appear, or Transfigured the glasses," said Ron.

"Oh, yes, speaking of that, how that is going to be useful for me? What will I do? Collect all the pillows that Voldemort has in his bedroom, so that he'll sleep bad and have no strength?" he asked sarcastically.

Ron smiled. "Hey, you know—I hadn't thought about that?"

"I'm not joking, Ron," said Harry, sighing. "What are these spells useful for?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about summoning pillows, about levitating things and Transfiguring glasses. What am I going to do once I know all those things?" asked Harry, his voice rising gradually.

Ron glanced at him surprised. "Well, it's not a matter of the spell, it's a matter of concen-"

"Concentration, I know," said Harry irritably. "I've been so concentrated in the last few days that I think I might make the table explode if you ask me to levitate it."

Ron darkened. "Well, I would really like to see if you can do something like that," he said, challenging Harry.

Harry glared at him. He stretched an arm towards the table and it exploded, sending wooden slivers towards Harry and Ron.

Ron took a deep breath and hissed, "You know what I think? I think that you didn't want to make it levitate, you deliberately made it explode."

Harry didn't say anything, but looked away from Ron.

Ron waved his hand and the table came back together. "If you thought that what I was making you do was useless you could have told me—maybe about a week ago, don't you think?"

"It didn't seem useless a week ago," muttered Harry.

"No?"

"I thought that you would teach me something more interesting, more helpful, after the pillow thing," stated Harry. "And maybe you would tell me something about the plan."

Ron blinked. "The plan?"

"The plan for attacking Voldemort," said Harry matter-of-factly.

"I thought that that was clear," stated Ron. "It's all in the prophecy."

Harry snorted. "That stupid prophecy doesn't say anything at all. It doesn't give us a clue about how we should get to Voldemort, or what we should do when we're face-to-face." Harry paused for a moment, his face contracted in the effort of thinking. "Hey, I don't even remember you all saying where Voldemort's headquarters are."

Ron let out a nervous laugh. "Voldemort's headquarters?" he asked slowly, then pointed towards the ceiling. "Everything up there is Voldemort's headquarters."

Harry narrowed his eyes. "I meant a place where he stays. The place where he lives," he explained.

"Well, he's in Diagon Alley," said Ron simply.

"Diagon Alley?" he asked, bewildered.

"Yes, why? What did you expect?" asked Ron, amused by Harry's expression.

"I-I don't know. Something of more – _secure_," he said.

"Secure from what? Everybody on the surface is under his control, and he really doesn't mind if there's a group of people under the ground that wants him dead. He's surrounded by too many Death Eaters to even think that someone could ever get to him," explained Ron.

Harry swallowed. "Then how will we be able to get to him?" he asked slowly.

Ron shrugged. "You are Harry Potter."

Harry's eyes widened. "That's it?"

Ron smirked. "No. Naturally, we have thought of something else; that's why Remus and Ginny aren't here today."

"They've gone to meet the other people, right? The other ones in the resistance, right?" asked Harry.

Ron nodded. "Yes, to explain the situation to them. They'll be the diversion, so that we'll be able to sneak into Voldemort's place without being caught by the Death Eaters."

"B-but, only today? I mean, why didn't they go earlier? Maybe today is too late—they'll never be ready for tomorrow," said Harry nervously.

"They are always ready," replied Ron matter-of-factly. "But they already knew what was going on."

"Really?" asked Harry sceptically.

"Yes." Ron touched his own forehead. "Remember? Mind communication."

"So, everybody is ready except for me," sentenced Harry, lowering his eyes to the floor.

"You are ready, Harry," said Ron.

"No, I'm not."

"Look, can you make that table levitate?" Ron asked, nodding towards the table.

Glancing at it, Harry stretched out his arm towards it, then shook his head. "No," he said miserably.

Ron nodded. "But you can make it explode. And believe me, that's fairly more useful if you have to fight against the dark wizard that rules this world."

The corner of Harry's mouth twitched into a smile. Then he raised his eyes and looked at Ron with wide eyes. "I've got an idea."

Ron raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Yes, Chosen-One?" he asked teasingly.

"Let's go back in time and re-live this week again. I'll have more time for training," he said, excited.

Ron's smile faded. "We can't, Harry."

"Why? It's so easy and then we can-" His eyes twinkled. "Ron! How stupid am I! What am I talking about? When I go back to the past, I'll already know what's going to happen, and I won't let things go that way! I'll change the past so that the future will be different as well; Hermione and I will survive."

Ron looked at him blankly. "Harry, do you seriously think that we haven't thought of something like that already?" he asked almost rhetorically.

Harry looked a little unsure.

"You can't change the past."

"But when Sirius was caught by the Dementors, Hermione and I-"

"Harry," Ron cut him off, "you can change the past as long as you do the change within a day, not more."

"What?" asked Harry, puzzled.

Ron explained patiently the workings of time-travel. He thought that he hadn't explained it as well as Remus had, but the fact was that it was a little bit difficult for him to understand. He also told him about the fact that they would have to use a Memory Charm on him. Anyway, at the end of his explanation, Harry looked very disheartened, and that meant that he had finally understood that what he was thinking was unattainable.

"That's so stupid, really," said Harry, closing his fists.

"I know," agreed Ron. "If only that – what?" he asked, spotting the upset expression on Harry's face.

"You were going to destroy your time," he said. "You were going to make your sister and Professor Lupin disappear; you were going to kill everybody here."

Ron looked uneasy. "Well, it's not exactly like that."

"Yes, it is. And for what?" Harry looked horrified. "To save your own life and live peacefully? I would have never thought that you-"

"Hermione," said Ron, cutting him off.

Harry blinked. "For Hermione?" he asked.

"For Hermione, and for you," Ron answered. "I thought I could save you from death." Ron walked towards a chair and collapsed on it. "But, firstly, I wanted to spend some more time with Hermione."

"Do you mean that after thirteen years, you've finally realized that you had a crush on her?" he asked, without being able to understand if that was amusing or sad.

"A crush? A _crush_?" Ron snorted. "I loved – I love her, Harry. In thirteen years I have not gone a day without thinking of her. And in all the time that we spent together, would you believe me if I tell you that I've never ever given her one kiss? Not even told her how I loved her?"

Harry couldn't help smiling. "And would you believe me if I tell you that I believe you?"

Ron looked at him and smiled. "I think I can. I'm a stupid prat, aren't I?"

"No," answered Harry. "You are just extremely dumb sometimes."

"Thank you," said Ron sarcastically.

"You are welcome," Harry answered as sarcastically as him.

At that moment, somebody Apparated noiselessly into the room, right behind Ron. Harry looked up, hoping to see Ginny or Professor Lupin, but when he noticed the silvery hair and grey eyes, he winced.

Ron turned immediately, and smirked. "I wonder what you're doing here, Malfoy," he said in a mocking tone. "I thought you never leave your hole."

Draco Malfoy looked at Ron without interest, then turned his attention towards Harry, and Harry thought he saw a glimpse of madness in his eyes.

"They weren't lying," hissed Draco. "They weren't lying at all."

"Are you talking about Ginny and Remus?" asked Ron.

Draco stepped towards Harry and seized his arm; he bent down until his face was only a few inches away from Harry's. Harry smelled a terrible smell coming from him. He was wearing a dirty robe, whose colour could no longer be identified, and, now that Harry saw him better, he was very dirty himself. He seemed much older than Ron, even though Harry knew that they were both thirty.

Draco got closer to Harry and tightened his grip on his arm. Harry let out an involuntary small yell of pain.

"Malfoy, he needs that arm," said Ron calmly.

This seemed to bring Draco back to reality. He let go of Harry and turned to watch Ron. "Are you sure that he's _him_?"

"Pretty sure, yes," said Ron, smiling.

"How do you know?" asked Draco suspiciously.

"Have you checked the scar?"

Draco nodded. "But I remember him shorter than this one," he said matter-of-factly.

"Hey!" said Harry angrily.

Ron chuckled. "Well, I'm sorry to delude you, but he's Harry Potter." He glanced at Harry and then back to Draco. "Ginny and Remus have already explained about tomorrow?"

Draco nodded haughtily.

"And?"

"I'm not coming," said Draco, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Ron shrugged. "I already knew that," he said nonchalantly. "What did you come for, then?"

"To be sure that you really had him," he said, jerking his head towards Harry. "And how did you know that I wouldn't have come with you?"

"Because you're always in your den, and never go out. I understand if you are a little bit _afraid_ of 'out there'," said Ron, smirking.

Draco's eyes narrowed. "I'm not afraid of anything."

"I said just a little bit," teased Ron.

"You better shut your mouth, Weasley," hissed Draco.

"Or what? You are going to shut it for me?" asked Ron.

"You don't want to know."

"Yes, I do," said Ron hastily.

Harry saw the cupboard tremble; one of the doors opened suddenly and a glass flew towards Ron. He avoided it rather easily, but seemed quite abashed. The glass fell on the floor and crashed.

"If you've come here to destroy my stuff, you might as well stayed at home, Malfoy," said Ron crossly.

"Withdraw what you said, Weasley," snapped Draco.

"Should I? The truth hurts, right Malfoy?"

"I'm not afraid!" snarled Draco.

"Then come with us tomorrow," said Ron simply.

"That's a suicide mission," hissed Draco.

"It's not; you just have to distract the Death Eaters enough to let us penetrate into Voldemort's place and-"

"And you want to enter Gringotts? You'll never get this close to the building," said Draco, moving his thumb very near to his index finger.

"Yes we will, if the way is clear of Death Eaters," stated Ron.

Draco's eyes moved madly from Ron to Harry. Then, his face contorted into a smirk worthy of a man that has spent all his life in Azkaban. "I'll come, on one condition," he said slowly. "I'm coming with you inside the building."

Ron looked alarmed. "What?"

"I want to come with you, your sister, the wolf-man and Potter inside Gringotts," he said.

Ron swallowed. "Ma-Malfoy, I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, you really can't – we need someone we can trust out there."

Draco furrowed his brow. "I know what everybody thinks about me."

"Really?"

"Yes, you think that I've gone crazy," he hissed.

"N-no," stammered Ron, in a way that clearly meant the contrary.

"I don't care. I'll come with you, although-"

"What's happening here?" asked Ginny, Apparating in near Harry, along with Remus. Her eyes moved from the broken glass on the floor to Draco Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" she asked nastily to Draco.

"I told you that I didn't believe that you really had Potter," he said calmly.

"And now that you have seen him, do you believe us?" asked Remus.

Draco nodded stiffly. "I'm coming with you tomorrow."

Ginny grinned. "What make you change your mind?"

"The fact that I'm coming with you to Gringotts and helping Potter to get rid of You-Know-Who," he said, smirking.

Ginny's grin faded and her eyes widened. "What?" She glared at Ron. "How could you have permitted a thing like this? Are you insane?"

"I didn't permit it," said Ron indignantly. "He proposed it and said that otherwise he won't come."

Ginny glared at Draco. "Then don't come," she snapped.

"Too late. I've already decided," he said calmly.

"Well, I don't care. Bloody hell, Malfoy. You're not right in your head, you could ruin everything," she half screamed.

"Sorry, as I said. I've already decided." He snapped his fingers and Disapparated.

Ginny brought her hand to her temple. "I think that I'm going to have a headache," she stated.

"Have you already talked to everybody?" asked Ron to Remus, ignoring his sister.

"No, but we said to let the news spread," said Remus matter-of-factly.

Ron nodded. "Good, and tomorrow, what-?"

"Don't worry, everything is settled," said Ginny dismissively.

"And can we know what you've settled, or is it something for your private club?" asked Harry irritably.

Ginny looked at him, surprised.

"What have you done to him?" Remus asked Ron amusedly.

Ron shrugged. "Nothing."

"Well, all the rest of the resistance will attack Diagon Alley all together, while we'll Apparate directly into Gringotts. We'll count a lot on the surprise factor," said Remus matter-of-factly.

"And once we're inside, what will we do?" asked Harry.

"Find Voldemort, and kill him," said Ginny, as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

"Yeah, of course," muttered Harry. "And have you already destroyed all his Horcruxes?"

"Ages ago," said Ron, smiling. "You know, we were getting bored."

Harry gaped at him.

"You know, I think we should get some sleep; tomorrow is going to be a long day," said Remus.

"I'm not very sleepy," said Harry. "I don't think that I'll be able to sleep at all."

"We can make up for that," said Remus. He walked towards Harry and pressed a finger to his forehead. "What about now?" he asked Harry gently.

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but his eyes closed and he fell asleep before he could say anything. Remus caught him before he fell to the floor.

"And you two should sleep as well," he said to Ron and Ginny, heading to the bedroom with Harry in his arms.


	12. The Attack and the End

Disclaimer: Yeah, and as I've already said that, Harry Potter and his friends are not mine.

A/N: Okay, I think that the most important thing that I should write in this Author's Note is that this is **_NOT_** the last chapter. I know what you are thinking right now, 'If this is not the last chapter, why did she call it _The Attack and the End_?' Well, it's easy, because it's the end of what's happened in the future. There's still a chapter to go before this story ends. Anyway, I really hope that you'll like it, it was big fun for me to write it, I hope it'll be big fun for you to read it – By the way, I luv Draco in this chapter.

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for your beta-reading work, and you are very smart if you guessed _it_ right (or it wasn't such a big surprise… but I would like to think that you are super-smart…).

**The Attack and the End**

When Harry opened his eyes the first thing that he saw was a pale pointed face with a halo of blond hair and big grey eyes that were staring at him. When Draco saw that he was awake, he smirked and took a step back.

"I thought that you were going to sleep forever, Potter," he said, amused.

Harry rubbed his head and put on his glasses. "I don't even remember going to bed," he muttered, getting to his feet.

"Well, you have wolf-man to thank for that," said Draco.

Harry glanced at the other beds in the room and saw that they were all empty. He felt slightly alarmed at the thought of being alone in that place with none other than Draco Malfoy, who, at that moment, was crazier than usual.

"Don't worry, you're not alone with me," said Draco, smirking. "They're all in the other room."

Harry glared at him. "Have you read my mind?" He didn't want to let him know that he was rather _afraid_ of being there with him.

Draco shrugged. "Yes."

"Well, it's annoying. Don't do that," he snapped.

Draco stepped towards him threateningly. "I do whatever I want, Potter. And you are not exactly in a position to tell me what I can or can't do, understood?"

Harry swallowed and nodded. "Did they send you to wake me up?"

Draco smirked. "No, if they would have asked me something like that, I would have never come. I've just Apparated from my house."

Harry nodded. "And you just wanted to wake me up, right? I mean, not choke me in my sleep or anything like that," he asked suspiciously.

Draco chuckled. "Right. And then, why should I want to kill you? You won't survive today anyway."

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, it's a suicide mission," stated Draco. "You're following the directions of a prophecy made by none other than Sybill Trelawney. You have a wolf-man so old that he could be a wolf-grandpa, a pregnant girl that could give birth to her child at any moment and Ron 'Useless' Weasley to help you."

"Lucky that you agreed to help us, then, Malfoy," said Ron, appearing at the door. "Because otherwise we would have been in serious trouble."

Draco smirked, as if he found it extremely funny that Ron had just found out that he was saying venomous things about him. "I know," said Draco. "Well, I'll send you the bill."

Ron couldn't help smiling a little. "Well, send it to Remus, then, because it wasn't me that called you." Then he turned towards Harry. "Let's go, are you hungry?"

Harry shook his head. "Not, at all," he said slowly, following Ron into the other room.

"Well, better if you eat something," stated Remus. "You'll need all your strength for what you're going to do."

"Yeah, right," said Harry, sitting at the table. "About that, what exactly am I going to do?"

"Well, fight against him," said Ginny, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. "Naturally, we'll help you."

"Naturally," echoed Draco. "I want it to be clear that I'm not doing this because I want to help Potter, but just because I'm feeling like going out there and kicking someone's ass."

"I thought you said that this was a suicide mission, Malfoy," said Ginny gently.

"It was, in fact, before I became the head here," he said calmly.

"Whoa! Wait a minute, who said that you're in charge?" asked Ron, with his eyes wide.

"Me," answered Draco.

"Well, you don't count, sorry," said Ginny.

"My first act as your head is to state that all the pregnant women can't come with us," he said, glaring at Ginny.

Ginny glared back. "Shut up, Malfoy."

"You know, Ginny, I think he's got a point after all," said Remus, thoughtfully.

"Yeah," agreed Ron.

Ginny turned and started to glare at everybody in the room, even Harry, who hadn't opened his mouth at all.

"I'm coming and that's all, the first that to say otherwise is going to regret it for the rest of his life. Am I understood?" commanded Ginny, narrowing her eyes.

Everybody nodded.

"When are we leaving?" asked Harry, biting into a piece of toast that Ron has just made appear for him on the table.

"In a couple of hours," answered Ron. "The others will attack the Death Eaters in an hour and half. We'll let them defeat most of the internal guards and then we'll Apparate inside Gringotts."

"How will we know when they've defeated the Death Eaters near Voldemort?" asked Harry, concerned.

"They'll tell us," said Ron, tapping his forehead.

"Mentally?"

"Yes."

"And we're going to fight him in the depths of his hiding place? Won't we be at a bit of a disadvantage?" asked Harry matter-of-factly.

"Nope, because he doesn't expect us there," said Ron calmly.

Draco placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and looked at him. "Yeah, well, Potter, it's a Weasley's plan, you don't have to be too surprised if it lacks intelligence."

Harry and Ron glared at Draco simultaneously, but he didn't seem to care.

"Well, Malfoy, you know, since you are the boss now, what do you suggest? Oh, wait! You can always dress up as a big pink bunny with an 'Attack here' signal on your head, and while you are distracting You-Know-Who, we'll-"

"Can you stop bickering for a while?" asked Remus firmly. "You all look like seventeen years old children – sorry Harry," he added as he saw Harry's affronted expression. Anyway, that stopped both Ron and Draco from tormenting each other any further; they just sat down at the table with the others, occasionally glaring at each others.

They waited for what seemed ages. For a moment, Harry thought that he had done nothing but wait for all his life. Then, suddenly, Ron jumped to his feet and everybody stared at him.

"They're ready," he said, gaping at the space in front of him.

"Who is it?" asked Ginny.

"Katie," answered Ron, still looking in front of him.

"Katie Bell?" asked Harry, astonished.

"They're all fine?" asked Ginny concerned.

Ron shook his head. "No, lots of them have died." Nobody but Harry seemed surprised at this news. "But she says that they have moved the battle towards the Muggle London."

"And Voldemort?" asked Remus.

"He hasn't showed up, but the ones that are usually with him are all out," Ron answered.

"Why is Bell talking just to him? Don't we count for anything? Don't _I_ count for anything?" said Draco, irritated.

"Actually, Malfoy, no. Now shut up," hissed Ginny.

"He's alone," muttered Ron.

"How do you know?" asked Harry seriously. "How do they know that there are no other Death Eaters with him?"

Ron looked at Harry intently. "Snape was outside."

Harry's eyes widened. "Snape?" he muttered.

"He's Voldemort's number one," explained Remus bitterly. "If he's out there, there's nobody with the Dark Lord."

"Okay, we can go," said Ron abruptly.

Ginny and Remus nodded, while Draco jumped to his feet and looked around wildly.

Ron placed a hand on Harry's shoulder and tightened it around his bone. He looked down at Harry and said, "Ready?"

Harry opened his mouth to answer, but no sound exited. It was the first time that he was going toward Voldemort voluntarily; right now, Draco seemed a little bit less crazy and a little bit smarter than then others. Anyway, he nodded to Ron.

Ron smiled softly, and then Harry felt his body pulled in all the directions at once and knew that they were Apparating. He shut his eyes and when he opened them again he couldn't see anything.

"What-"

Harry felt a big hand pressing on his mouth, and someone hushed him softly in his ear. Then he felt, rather than saw, a hand waving in the darkness, and a small fire appeared in midair.

Harry looked around. Remus, Ginny and Draco were all around him, while Ron was obviously standing behind him. They were looking all over the place trying to catch a movement in the darkness.

Harry glanced around too and saw that they were inside Gringotts. The darkness was caused by the fact that all the windows were boarded up and there were no candles lit.

Harry was pressed against Ron's chest, and he couldn't hear anything, not even Ron's heartbeat, and for a moment he thought that he had also learnt how to make it stop beating. Then he felt Ron taking a deep breath and releasing his mouth.

'Looks like there's nobody here.'

Harry looked around, but nobody had spoken.

'Harry are you alright?' asked a voice in his mind, which Harry recognized as Ginny's.

Harry nodded.

'Good, don't make any sound at all. We are going downstairs.'

Harry tried to concentrate. They had told him that they could read his mind, even if he couldn't communicate that way. 'Where is Voldemort?' he thought.

Remus looked at him and smiled. 'Downstairs. Have you ever been in the depths of Gringotts Wizarding Bank?'

Harry nodded. 'How are we getting there?'

'We'll walk there, Harry. Keep your wand in your pocket,' thought Remus.

'M-my wand?'

'Yes, do you have it, right?'

Harry shook his head. Why had they spent so much energy teaching him wand-less magic if they wanted him to bring his wand?

'Well, never mind,' thought Remus stiffly.

'Never mind? _Never mind_?' Harry heard Draco's voice echoing in his head and knew at once that he didn't like it at all. 'We are going to get killed.'

'Stop it Malfoy,' thought Ron forcefully.

'Why did I have to bring my wand with me if you've been teaching me wand-less magic all this time?' thought Harry shyly.

Remus looked at him in a fatherly way. 'To distract Voldemort, Harry. Pretending that you can't do magic without your wand, Voldemort's only thought would have been to disarm you, while you could have concentrated on something else.'

'Like killing him,' thought Draco hastily.

'Okay, enough thinking. Let's go,' said Ron suddenly.

They started to walk cautiously and as noiselessly as they could towards the wall on which opened a multitude of doors.

Harry looked around frustrated. 'Which way?' he thought.

'We don't know,' answered Ginny matter-of-factly.

Harry looked at her in the dim light of the room. 'What? And how are we supposed to find him? There are at least a hundred doors here.'

'Look,' thought Remus, pointing towards the floor. 'Looks like nobody has cleaned in quite a long time.'

Harry would have liked to scream at him that that was certainly not the time to look at how dirty it was, but he couldn't even think that without being heard. He glanced down at the floor and saw that Professor Lupin was not so out of his mind for having pointed out that the floor was covered with dust.

Their footprints stood out like the ones of the astronauts on the moon. He saw that there were no other traces except theirs in that very place.

'Let's do a little looking around.' Harry heard Professor Lupin's voice in his head.

They parted and everybody had his nose stuck on the floor; the dust was so thick that if there were footprints they could have surely not missed them.

'Here,' thought Draco suddenly. They all hurried towards him. He stood in front of a door with a smirk on his face.

'Good job, Draco,' thought Remus.

Draco beamed.

Ginny rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, good job, Malfoy, now get out of the-' "Aaaah!" She fell to the ground with a hand on her stomach and her eyes wide.

"Yeah, great, talk about secrecy," snapped Draco.

Remus and Ron kneeled down next to her. "Ginny!" exclaimed Ron, worryingly. "Are you alright?"

Ginny shook her head. "No," she said through gritted teeth. "I think that my water's broke."

An awkward silence followed that revelation.

"Are you sure?" croaked Remus when he recovered from the shock.

"Pretty sure, yes," she answered stiffly, glaring at him. "And I'm having contractions."

Draco leaned against the wall and sighed. "Anyone else think I was right when I invented the rule that the pregnant women can't come?"

"Shut up, Malfoy," hissed Ron.

"Aargh!"

Everybody gaped at Remus. "Remus what's wrong?" asked Ron.

"Are you going to give birth to a small wolf as well?" asked Draco.

"Maybe it's the full moon," said Harry fearfully.

Remus shook his head. "No, Ginny's just crushed my hand," said Remus stiffly.

Everybody looked relieved. Ron turned towards Harry. "Harry, Remus doesn't feel the full moon anymore, or at least not as much as in the past. He can control his power and transform whenever he wants," explained Ron.

"Oh great, now let's start to give Potter private lessons, and maybe the Dark Lord will find us whilst we are having a party and-" Draco stopped talking as Ron jumped on his feet and grabbed his collar and lifted from the floor.

"Stop talking, will you, Malfoy?" hissed Ron.

Draco smirked, too proud, or too mad, to regret what he had said.

Ron let him go abruptly. "Okay, listen; Ginny, can you Apparate?" he asked his sister.

"What-do-you-think?" she asked, breathing slowly and sweating copiously.

"I think that's a no," said Ron. "Then, you should just stay here and-" Ron's eyes ran between Remus to Draco. "One of you should stay here with her."

"I'm not going to stay here with her," said Draco, disgusted. "Let her husband stay here."

Ron bit his bottom lip. "Remus? You know that we'll need you."

Remus looked from Ron to Ginny. "Ron, I can't come," he answered, holding Ginny's hand. "I can't leave her here alone. You'll be fine with Draco."

Draco smirked. "Did you hear him? You'll be fine with me, Weasley."

"Fine as dead," hissed Ron. He bent down to kiss Ginny on her sweaty forehead, and as he did so he looked into her eyes. "Don't worry Ginny," he whispered, caressing her hair. "Everything will be fine. We'll defeat Voldemort and you'll have your baby."

Ginny nodded, unable to speak while another contraction agonized her.

Harry bent down near her as well and patted her shoulder awkwardly. "You'll be fine," he said, trying to smile.

Ginny smiled back weakly; she seized Harry's wrist and dragged him down, making him fall to his knees. "If it's a boy, I'll call him Harry," she said softly.

Harry nodded and now he really smiled. Then he felt Ron's hand on his shoulder and knew that they had to go.

"And as second name you'll call him Draco, right?" asked Draco teasingly.

Ginny opened her mouth, but only to scream in pain.

"Better if you put a silencing charm on her," suggested Draco, unexpectedly wise.

"Let's go," muttered Ron darkly as he pushed the door behind Ginny open. He glanced back at Remus, who nodded, and they disappeared inside the darkness of the hallway that led to the underground vaults.

'Stay behind me.' Harry heard Ron's voice in his head again.

They climbed down innumerable stairs in what seemed the darkest place on Earth. Harry couldn't see anything, but Ron seemed quite secure of the way, as if he could see in the dark, and Harry was positive that he actually could.

Draco seemed to make no noise at all behind Harry, but he never turned to see if he was still there, because he couldn't have seen him anyway.

Suddenly Harry heard Ron stopping and turning in front of him. He felt his body against his own and his arms grabbed him tightly around the head and dragged him to the floor. He heard Draco throw himself on the ground next to them and saw a flash of green light passing above their heads.

Then nothing. Not a breath, not a laugh, not a step. But they knew that Voldemort was there.

'Harry, Draco, are you alright?'

'I'm alive, Weasley, so I guess that that should sound like a yes, I'm alright,' thought Draco.

'I'm fine,' thought Harry. 'Ron, you are crushing my shoulder with your elbow.'

'Sorry.' Ron moved a little and released Harry. 'Malfoy, whatever happens, don't let Harry get caught or killed, understood?'

Harry heard a sigh from Draco's body. 'Great, I have to die in order to save Potter's life.'

'Malfoy!'

'It was a yes, Weasley,' thought Draco forcefully.

Ron nodded, but nobody saw him in the darkness. 'Malfoy, on the count of three.'

Harry's eyes turned towards where he thought Ron should have been. 'On the count of three, what?'

No voices echoed in his head.

'Ron! On the count of three what?' he repeated, he hoped that the fear he felt wasn't showing in his thoughts.

Harry felt, rather than saw, Ron and Draco standing up and leaning against the wall.

"Lumus!" Voldemort hissed.

Suddenly the place lighted up and Harry could see that they were standing at the bottom of a stair, in a circular room, with several doors that led to other rooms. Ron and Draco were pressed against the wall of the stairs, while Harry still lay on the ground, his back painfully pushed against the stairs. Voldemort was on the other part of the room, with his back against a door.

"You must be very brave," hissed Voldemort, "or very stupid to come here."

"Maybe a little bit of both," said Ron courageously.

"And you brought a child with you," hissed Voldemort, lowering his eyes on Harry. "How stupid indeed."

"Don't you recognize this child?" asked Ron.

Voldemort's eyes darted from Ron to Harry; the wand raised in front of him was quite threatening.

"It's Harry Potter," said Draco, teasingly. "You know, the little boy that made your life hell."

---

"Ginny, come on, love, breathe," said Remus. He sat on the floor with Ginny's head on his crossed legs. With one hand he rubbed her head and with the other he held her hand.

"I _am _breathing," hissed Ginny. "I'm going to hyperventilate, if I keep on breathing like this."

Ginny tightened her grip on Remus' hand and screamed as another contraction spread pain throughout her body. When the soreness seemed to fade her eyes filled with tears. "I can't have my baby on the dirty floor of Gringotts," she said, sobbing.

"It doesn't matter where you have it as long as everything is-"

_Pop._

Remus jerked his head towards the person that had just Apparated into the room and stretched out his arm. Then he sighed in relief.

"Katie," he said hastily. "What are you doing? Why did you make all that noise?"

Katie Bell fell on her knees, and Remus noticed a red stain widening on her shirt.

"Katie?" asked Ginny, her voice fearful and painful.

"I'm fine," Katie answered stiffly. "But they are getting near."

"The Death Eaters?" asked Remus.

"Yes, they took Lee and used Veritaserum on him. They know about the prophecy, the plan, everything," she explained, bringing a hand to her heart, near the blood stain.

Ginny screamed again as another contraction started.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Katie hastily.

"She's in labour," answered Remus.

"What?" Katie's voice didn't hide the fear. "Right now?"

"I would have loved to wait, Katie, but it seems that it's not exactly in my control," answered Ginny sarcastically.

"Where are the others?" asked Katie.

"Down," answered Remus, looking at her. "But Katie, don't go," added Remus urgently. "She needs a woman."

"I'm not good at these things! I've never had a child, nor seen how these things happen," said Katie, shaking her head.

"Just sit down in front of her and wait for the baby to come," said Remus forcefully.

Both Katie and Ginny looked at him and gulped.

"Katie, sit down and help her, or I swear that you'll regret that the Death Eaters didn't catch you," yelled Remus.

Katie crawled towards Ginny obediently. "Okay, Ginny, make quick and frequent breaths, understood?"

Ginny nodded and as she started to breathe quickly Katie conjured a sheet and a pillow and removed Ginny's trousers and knickers. She passed the pillow to Remus with a glare that meant 'why didn't you think about making her more comfortable?' and covered Ginny with the sheet.

"Come on, honey, you're almost there," said Katie, leaning down.

Ginny screamed as she felt an excruciating pain spread from her low belly to her entire body.

_Pop._

Remus raised his head, and his heart skipped a beat. A hooded figure stood some few feet away from them.

He pointed his wand towards Katie's back and opened his mouth to mutter a spell, but Remus was quicker and Stupefied him with his hand.

"Thank you," muttered Katie, without even looking up from Ginny.

Remus nodded and wiped away some sweat from his forehead. He wanted to look down at Ginny again, but his attention was captured by other popping noises all around them.

Ginny heard Remus cursing under his breath, an exceptional event, and saying, "Katie, can you continue on alone?"

"Not that you were doing a lot, Remus," answered Katie hastily.

Remus laid Ginny's head on the pillow and walked towards the other Death Eaters that now filled the hall. He glanced at them and smirked. "You know, I think you'd better Apparate back from where you came, because you'll have to step on my corpse if you want to get to your lord."

"Do you think that that's a problem for us?" hissed one of the hooded figures.

Remus glared at him and then closed his eyes. "Actually, yes."

The Death Eaters started to laugh, but their laughs faded away rather quickly when they noticed that he was changing. His fingernails became longer, his eyes darkened and his skin broke.

One of them had just enough time say, "Werewolf", and then Remus was on them, too quick for their spells to reach him, too aggressive to even let them catch their breath.

"What's happening?" asked Ginny, trying to look over Katie's shoulder.

"Nothing that you should care about," said Katie hastily. "Come on, Ginny, another little push, I can almost see the head."

Ginny pushed with all her strength and felt like she was going to break in two. She started to scream, but Katie waved a hand over her mouth and her scream died in her throat.

"Sorry, Ginny, but I don't want them to remember that we are here," said Katie, jerking her head slightly towards the Death Eaters at her back, who were too busy running from Remus to pay attention to them.

Ginny nodded and pushed again, longing for the pain to end.

"Come on, come on," said Katie. Her hands could feel the baby's head now. "Come on, Ginny," she repeated. "Another little push."

Ginny was sure that she was going to pass out from the pain, but she gave another push and started to hear a cry.

Katie was panting almost as much as Ginny as she took the baby in her hands. Ginny's head fell on the pillow and her body relaxed while Katie cut the umbilical cord and conjured another small sheet to wrap the baby in.

Ginny stretched her arms towards Katie and the baby, and a weak smile appeared on her face. Katie waved her hand over Ginny's face and removed the Silencing Charm.

"Here's your mummy," said Katie, rocking the baby. "It's a boy."

Ginny took the baby into her arms and smiled.

Katie pushed away a lock of hair from Ginny's eyes and smiled too. "You know, baby, I think that your parents' love must be very strong for you to be born in these times, and on this very day. That's a good omen."

Ginny rocked her child sweetly. "I'll call him Harry," she whispered, almost to herself. Then she looked at Katie. "Thank you," she said.

"It was a pleasure," said Katie, smiling. "It doesn't happen very often that I can help bring a baby into this world."

"What?" asked Ginny, looking at her.

"I said that it doesn't happen every day that-"

"No, what were you saying before that?" asked Ginny, her eyes wide.

"That it's a good omen that he's born this very day? That he must be really loved? That I helped bring a baby into this world?"

Ginny gulped. "When you say it all together like that," she said agitatedly, "you sound like the prophecy."

Katie looked at her and smiled. "Yeah, but it's Harry that-" She stopped and looked at Ginny fearfully. "It isn't Harry."

Ginny nodded. She stretched out an arm towards Katie and said, "Help me up."

Katie glanced at her. "No way! You're too weak, you can't even move."

"We have to bring the baby in front of Voldemort," said Ginny hastily.

Katie looked at her and widened her eyes. "What if it's not him? What if it's really Harry? You want to sacrifice your son for – for-"

"-for everyone's lives?" asked Ginny, darkening. "Katie, take him downstairs. If Harry is the one in the prophecy they will have already defeated Voldemort; if not, they'll need my son." Ginny gave the small child to Katie and looked at him with her eyes filled with tears. "Go," she cried to Katie, while big tears were stroking down her cheeks.

Katie looked at her for a second; then, collecting all her strength, she jumped to her feet, held the baby to her chest and turned to glance at Remus before running towards the only open door that led downstairs.

---

Voldemort laughed, sending a cold shiver down Harry's spine. "Harry Potter?" he asked mockingly. "I was sure I'd killed him."

"Looks like you were wrong, weren't you?" asked Draco, smirking.

"In thirteen years you have not changed - what happened to you?" asked Voldemort suspiciously, looking at Harry and ignoring Draco.

"You didn't expect him to get taller, did you?" asked Draco, sneering.

'Stop teasing him, Draco.' Harry heard Ron thinking, and Draco snorted.

"Did you know that there's a prophecy about him?" asked Ron.

Voldemort sneered. "You're late; the prophecy was carried out years ago."

Ron shook his head and smiled. "There's a new one, didn't you hear it?"

Harry felt incredibly uneasy in that place, and to him it looked almost like both Ron and Draco were trying to get on Voldemort's nerves. Maybe they wanted Voldemort to attack him.

"What are you talking about?" hissed Voldemort, narrowing his snakelike eyes.

"Can you remember the seer? The one that tried to escape from your Death Eaters two weeks ago?" asked Ron. He was still leaning against the wall.

Voldemort raised his eyebrows. "She's dead."

"Yes, but not before we got the prophecy," said Ron.

"My servants said that the prophecy got broken and that nobody could hear what it said," hissed Voldemort.

"And you were stupid enough to believe them?"

Harry glanced at Draco and then back at Voldemort, and thought that he was going to attack the blond man for what he'd said, but he didn't.

"We had it and we heard it. You know, it was interesting," said Ron with a smirk.

Voldemort narrowed his eyes so much that they became only a pair of slits on his face. "And?"

Ron looked at Draco. "I think that he wants us to tell him what it was about," said Ron slowly.

"And should we tell him?" asked Draco calmly.

"I think we should," said Ron. "After all, he asked us with so much gentleness."

They looked at Voldemort. "In short, it said that you will die because of this child," said Draco, and Harry was sure that he had deliberately used the word 'child' instead of 'boy'.

"Yeah," confirmed Ron. "And it said _today_."

Unexpectedly, Voldemort smiled an evil smile. He didn't seem afraid of anything. "Let me guess - _love_," he hissed. "It will be love that will destroy me."

Ron darkened.

"But it's strange, because I've already killed his mother and I don't think that any of you will be too keen to offer his life for this boy," said Voldemort, his eyes resting on Draco.

"Try us," replied Draco.

Harry saw a vein pulsing dangerously at Voldemort's temple, reminding him of uncle Vernon.

"Are you scared?" asked Draco mockingly.

A flash of red light enveloped him so unexpectedly that Draco didn't even have the time to say 'oh'. "I am not scared," hissed Voldemort, whilst Draco rolled down the stairs and landed in the circular room.

'What did he do to him?' thought Harry, looking at Draco worriedly.

'He just stunned him. Don't worry too much for Malfoy, now he's out of the fight,' thought Ron hastily.

"Why didn't you kill him?" asked Ron, looking at Voldemort.

Voldemort licked his lips in an animal way. "You never know."

Ron smirked. "Scared?"

Another flash of red light passed right above Harry's head, but Ron was too quick for it and dove down next to Harry.

'Why don't you Disapparate?' thought Harry, looking at him.

'This place is full of anti-Apparition spells, Harry,' Ron explained, glancing at Voldemort.

Voldemort glared at Ron and then at Harry. "This is getting old. You really want me to kill Potter again?" he asked to Ron.

"I want you to try to kill Harry, because you'll be defeated another time and this time, forever," hissed Ron, getting to his feet and helping Harry up.

Voldemort's eyes narrowed. "I know that you have destroyed all my Horcruxes, but what makes you think that I'd not made some new ones?"

"Because it's quite a lot of time since you've killed somebody. We know that all the people of the resistance that died were killed by Death Eaters. You are becoming weak," stated Ron.

Voldemort didn't answer, but he knew that that red-haired man was right.

He stretched out his arm and pointed his wand towards Harry. "Well, let's see your great power, Harry Potter. Let's see if a little boy like you can harm me in anyway. You don't even have your wand," he hissed.

Harry locked his eyes onto Voldemort's, hoping to be intimidating. But from Voldemort's smirk he already knew that he had failed.

Voldemort's wand pointed directly at Harry's heart.

Then, lots of things happened at once.

Voldemort screamed, "Avada Kedavra". Harry closed his eyes and waited, but the light never hit him. He heard someone's steps in front of him and yelled Ron's name out of desperation. But then he heard Ron yelling Katie's name, and as he opened his eyes he found the older version of Katie Bell standing in front of him, absorbing the curse with what Harry thought was her body.

Then Harry heard Voldemort letting out an inhuman yell of pain while Katie fell backwards and Harry caught her body.

He heard Ron stepping towards him, but he fell too. Harry turned to look at him, but his vision blurred and as everything went dark, he heard another yell of pain and then peace engulfed him.


	13. No Way Out

Disclaimer: Harry Potter is of property of J.K.R.

A/N: So, are you going to kill me? I think so, because it's definitely a happy end, but it's also pretty depressing. Anyway, I'm sorry, but I like the way this story ends, so I'm not going to change it, and no, in case anybody is wondering, I'm not going to write a sequel at all—come on, what could I write?—anyway, since this is the last chapter as always I wanted to thank all the readers that followed this story. Then, thanks to all the people that put this story in their Alerts list, in their Favourites list and in their C2s. And last, but not least, a very big thank you to all the people that reviewed my chapters, those reviews really made my day, and if you feel like leaving a review, and it's about year 3000 and the aliens have invaded the Earth or either Voldy has won the Battle against Harry Potter, leave it anyway, I swear that I'll find the way to read it! And I'll also reply to them (if you want me to!)! As a last thing (then you can go on reading the chapter), I wanted to let you know that I've written a story, which I think it's better than these ones I've uploaded on if you want to have a look at it, you'll find it on Fiction Alley, under my usual username (Ely-Baby), it's called 'But Thy Eternal Summer Shall Not Fade'. I think it's pretty nice, so if you want to have a look at it, just check it out, although forget it. Again, thanks a lot to you all.

To Lyndsie Fenele: Thanks a lot for being such a nice beta-reader. I really appreciated all your comments and your wonderful help. Again, thanks so much for everything.

**No Way Out**

Harry looked at the sky. It was blue, a shade of blue like he'd never seen before. 'Maybe the sky of the future is different from the one in my time,' he thought.

"No, I think that it's the same sky that you know," said a voice at his back.

Harry smiled without turning. "It looks bluer."

"Maybe it's because it's been more than a week since you've seen it," said Ron, approaching him. "You can't even imagine how strange I thought it looked in your time. But really it was just the fact that it had been almost thirteen years since I'd seen it."

Harry nodded. He glanced at Ron and saw that he was wearing a long red wizard's robe and a pointed hat, which made him look a little bit crazy. Harry was wearing the dress robes that he'd had when Ginny 'kidnapped' him from the past.

"You know that I'll miss you, don't you?" said Ron unexpectedly.

Harry nodded awkwardly. "I'll miss you too."

"No you won't. You won't even remember me," replied Ron.

"Right. About that Memory Charm-"

"Harry, I would be the first to save your and Hermione's lives," sighed Ron. "But that's not possible. You can't change the past - not such a distant past, at least."

Harry nodded. Then he sighed deeply. "You know, I'm happy that it wasn't me after all."

Ron looked at him and smiled. "Yeah, for once it wasn't you. It's not always about you, Mr. Potter."

"And you know, I'm also happy that Katie brought little Harry there just in time," Harry added.

"Well, don't let Ginny hear it; she already thinks that she's the new heroine of this world," joked Ron.

"Yeah, better if I don't," said Harry, laughing. "So, they made you Minister, right?"

Ron looked at him and smiled. "Minister? No, I don't think so. There's no such office anymore. But there's the need for someone to guide everybody," he said matter-of-factly.

"And they chose you? Poor things, they must be still shocked after Voldemort's domination," said Harry teasingly.

Ron smirked. "Actually they chose me, but I refused."

"Why?" asked Harry, raising his eyebrows.

"I don't feel ready for something like that, plus I think that the person that they've chosen instead is much better," said Ron, blinking. "Malfoy."

"What?" asked Harry, surprised.

Ron laughed. "Just joking, even though Malfoy threatened a couple of people to vote for him. It's Remus."

Harry felt reassured.

"I was thinking that I envy you, Harry," said Ron pensively.

"Really?" asked Harry. "Because I'm going to die a painful death in a few months? Or because I-"

"Because you'll be able to spend two more months with Hermione," said Ron, cutting him off.

Harry lowered his eyes and blushed. He was the one that was going to die, and still he felt guilty for spending time with Hermione; how could that be?

"Ron, I-"

"Never mind," said Ron hastily. "You know, Ginny is right."

"Is she?" asked Harry, raising his eyebrows.

Ron nodded. "Yes, when she says that I need to forget her. But she doesn't know how difficult it is. For her it has been easier forgetting you – not because she loved you less," he added hastily, seeing Harry's expression. "But because she was with you and knows that she did everything possible to make every moment she has spent with you unforgettable. But I," he looked at his hands. "I didn't even tell her how I felt. And the remorse is eating me alive."

Harry patted his shoulder awkwardly. "You don't have to forget her. You just have to live your life with her memory and know that she'll always be there, waiting for you."

Ron looked at him. "I didn't remember that you were so wise," he said teasingly.

"Much wiser than my best friend, that's for sure," said Harry, grinning.

They heard steps behind them and turned. Ginny was there, wearing a white summer dress, with little Harry in her arms. She smiled at them and moved to where they stood. "Are you ready, Harry?" she asked gently.

Harry nodded. He looked at Ginny and smiled. "I guess I am."

"Good, come on, there are a couple of people that want to bid farewell to you," she said, turning.

Harry followed her to the very centre of Diagon Alley, where a sand circle lay in the middle of the street. Draco and Remus stood there, evidently waiting for him.

Remus hugged Harry, causing him to blush. "P-professor Lupin, I'm not a child anymore," he said, while he caught sight of a smirking Draco.

"Yes, yes, of course," said Remus, releasing him. "We'll miss you."

Harry nodded.

"Well, Potter, I'm happy that for once the prophecy-boy wasn't you," said Draco.

"You know, Malfoy? For once I agree with you," said Harry matter-of-factly.

Unexpectedly, Draco smiled. "Have a nice trip back home," he said, causing Ron to gape at him.

Ginny bent down and kissed him on the forehead. "Harry, I just want you to know that I've never stopped loving you," she said softly.

Harry nodded, unable to reply anything comprehensible.

"Sorry we brought you here for no reason," said Ron.

"No problem," replied Harry. "It was fun learning all that stuff about wand-less and word-less magic." He looked at Ron intently. "After the Memory Charm I won't be able to do that anymore, right?" he asked, a little bit deluded.

"Yes, you will. But you won't remember it," answered Ron, smiling.

"Oh, blimey," muttered Harry.

"Harry, enter the circle," said Remus.

Harry nodded and stepped inside the circle obediently.

Remus walked in front of him and placed a finger on Harry's forehead. "As soon as you touch the ground in your time, you'll forget everything; all you have lived in the past ten days will be less than a dream, less than an evanescent memory, less than a sensation to you."

As Remus pulled his finger away, Harry felt a warm sensation from the spot he had touched spreading throughout his head. His vision blurred, and he was just barely aware of Ron jumping into the circle next to him.

"Ron!" exclaimed Ginny fearfully.

"Oh, great, Weasley," snapped Draco with a theatrical gesture. "Go and destroy the future just to stay with Granger--"

"Malfoy," Ron cut him off. "I just need to take my stuff back from Percy's room, and someone has to make all the other people forget me." He looked at Remus and nodded, grabbing a small golden chain around his neck.

Remus nodded back, showing a half crystal in his hands.

Draco rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Whatever," he murmured. "At least have the decency to become invisible, Weasley."

"I know that, Malfoy," Ron hissed back. He narrowed his eyes to concentrate, and became invisible.

"Goodbye, Harry." Harry heard someone say.

"Say hello to Mum for me." And he knew that that was Ginny.

Harry nodded and felt a force lifting him from the ground; he closed his eyes and let his body be transported. It was a nice sensation, quite different from the other trip to the future. Maybe it was because now he was prepared. He could feel the edge of Ron's robes brushing against his legs, but didn't glance at him, since he knew that it was futile.

"Aaaah!"

Harry opened his eyes and found himself staring into the teary ones of Hermione.

"Harry!" she sobbed, throwing her arms around his neck. "Where is Robert?"

Harry blinked. "Who?" he asked her.

Hermione released him and looked into his eyes. "Robert, Harry. You know him, don't you? Oh my! What happened to you, it looks like you have been away for days," she said, looking at his hair.

Harry shrugged his shoulders without understanding.

"Harry what-" But her words died in her throat as Ron took a step towards her and placed a hand on her forehead. "I love you," he murmured so softly that Hermione had to mistake it for the wind.

Hermione's expression softened, as her memories of Ron were erased from her mind. "Oh my, Harry! It's so late, the wedding is going to start and we're still here," she said, looking around. "Why are we here?"

"Harry! Hermione!"

All the Weasley family was running towards them.

"Are you alright?" asked the seventeen-year-old Ron, breathlessly.

Harry and Hermione nodded. "Why?" asked Harry.

"We heard Hermione screaming," said Ginny. She looked around. "Where are Robert and that girl?"

Harry and Hermione looked at each other without understanding. "Who?" asked Hermione.

Ron raised an invisible hand and murmured, "Obliviate." He looked as everybody's face softened, as his family forgot him.

"Better if we move," said Mrs. Weasley, with a big grin on her face. "The guests are going to arrive any time now."

They started to walk towards the Burrow, Mrs. and Mr. Weasley on the front, followed by Bill and Fleur who were holding hands. Fred and George were teasing Ron, and Hermione was smiling, looking at Ron's ears, which were turning red from anger. Harry and Ginny were a little behind.

Suddenly Harry came to a halt and seized Ginny's arm to make her stop. He looked into her eyes and asked, "Ginny, do you fancy Professor Lupin?"

Ron smiled. He stretched his hand in front of him and murmured, "Accio!" Nobody saw as his trunk flew out of Percy's window. He caught it with his right hand and closed his eyes. He touched the crystal that hung at his neck and thought intensely of Remus. His sister, his nephew and everybody else were waiting for him. The future was waiting for him.

"Farewell, Hermione," he murmured before a blinding light swallowed his body and the past vanished in front of him.

- The End -


End file.
